Here We Go Again
by joytown18
Summary: Raya Pope, daughter of Olivia Pope, is getting married. Hoping to be walked down the aisle by her father, she invites the mystery man she's never met to her wedding. The only problem is she doesn't know which man her father is. With three of her ex-lovers staying at her resort and her daughter's wedding to plan, how will Olivia Pope manage? (Olitz Endgame) AU Based on Mamma Mia.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Raya Pope sprinted through the streets of Zanzibar City, desperate to make it back to her mom's resort, which she had called home for all her life. Her mom had owned the tourist resort for as long as she can remember, and living at a resort had its perks, but also plenty of challenges too. Once Raya turned 13, her mother was quick to put her to work, helping maintain the resort. And today was no exception, despite her approaching wedding. She was still set for front-desk duty, and she was running late. She couldn't let that happen, especially not today of all days when she knew who was going to be checking in. She had to make sure she encountered _them _before her mom caught wind.

"Raya, slow down!" Raya quickly glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of her best friend Leena, standing in the doorway of one of her favorite cafes. Raya halted to an abrupt stop almost stumbling from the inertia.

"Where are you going?" Leena asked her coming out of the café's doorway and joining her in the paved street.

"I-I have to go I'm running late to work," Raya panted and tried to get air back to her lungs.

"You mean to tell me that your mother has got you working the week of your wedding?" Leena knew that Olivia's business was demanding and required all hands on deck from all her employees. Leena has even had to volunteer her time to assist with the resort every now and then. She didn't mind of course. The Popes were always so nice, and Raya was like the sister she never had. Still, Leena thought it was a bit ridiculous to not give Raya a break the week of her wedding. Raya was getting married on that Friday, which was why she was downtown in the first place in order to take care of some of the decorations for the big day.

Raya shook her head.

"Yes, well kind of. My mom's easing up since this is a big week. I don't have to work, but I need to today. You see, I have to go because…" Raya trailed off with a smile growing on her face as quick as lightning.

"What is it?" Leena insisted. Raya looked around and checked over both her shoulders to make sure no one was around.

"Come with me!" Raya grabbed Leena's hand and pulled her into an alley just next to the cafe. She took hold of her small leather backpack and opened it, revealing a notebook inside that she flipped open.

"I found this while I was going through some storage at the resort. It's my mom's diary. It's from the summer she spent in California before she moved to Zanzibar," Raya explained, elated. She shoved the book to her friend, pushing her to look inside.

"You mean this has…._him_…in it?" It was no secret to Leena that Raya had always wanted to know the details about who her father was. Her mother was very reserved about it. The only information Raya knew was that she met him in California when she lived in LA. Leena felt bad for Raya. She knew that Raya wanted to know more, and couldn't blame her for the lengths she had gone to try and find out more information. Leena had witnessed Raya's mother's dismissive behavior whenever she mentioned her father whenever Leena visited the resort.

"It's my wedding on Friday, and all I could ever dream is to be walked down the aisle by my dad. Which is why I have to go. I'm on front desk duty and-"

"Raya Pope! You did not invite him to your wedding?" Leena interrupted. She knew this could only end poorly.

"I didn't." Raya assured her friend. "I invited them," she smirked.

"What?"

"If you read it, there are three possible guys that my mom saw that summer: Stephen, Jake, and Fitzgerald. I invited all three of them to Zanzibar for the wedding. Ok well, I didn't invite them. Technically 'my mom' wrote them all emails asking them to come and visit this weekend. But once they're here, I'll find out which one my real dad is, and invite him to the wedding."

"Raya, are you serious? That has got to be the worst idea imaginable! What are you going to have all three of them escort you down the aisle?"

"Of course not. Once I see them, I'll know which one my dad is."

"How?"

"I just will," Raya insisted. "I'll be able to feel it. Daughter's instinct," she stated simply.

"While I feel like I should definitely be against this…I have to admit, this does seem pretty entertaining. I'm in." Leena giggled. She was always down for any mischievous adventure; nothing exciting ever happened on their small island, so a chance to participate in an adventure like this? Leena would be a fool to turn it down. Plus, who was she to be an unsupportive friend to her childhood bff on her wedding week.

"So you'll help me? Because I might actually need your help right now."

Leena nodded yes. She would always be there for her best friend.

"What do you need me to do?"

"They're going to be arriving off the boat at any minute. I have to be the one that's there to check them in. I can't let my mom catch them, because you know she would do anything necessary to ensure my father doesn't check into a villa." Raya placed the diary back in her backpack. "I'll need you distract my mom while they enter the lobby just for a little bit. Once I see them, I'll figure out which one my dad, check him into the resort, and it should be easy from there."

"Okay, let's go." Leena declared, and the two sprinted through the streets toward Raya's home.

The Fuwele Beachside Resort had been Olivia's home for nearly 23 years. She saw Zanzibar as her home now: she had spent about half her life here, started a flourishing business here, and raised her beautiful daughter here. She had no intentions of going back to the United States. She had long let go of everything she had back there. The one and only person she kept in contact with was her best friend and college roommate Abby who frequently came by about 2-3 times a year to visit. To Olivia's delight, she just arrived yesterday to be at Olivia's daughter's wedding, and she was glad to have such a close friend there with her for a moment like this.

Olivia looked at the picture frame facing her. It was a picture of her and her daughter right after she was born. It was hard for her to believe that Raya was going to be married in just a matter of days. How had she grown up so fast? Where did all the time go? But also, where was she? Olivia's mind snapped noticing her daughter's shift ha started about ten minutes ago. Almost as if on cue, Olivia saw her daughter and Leena turn the corner out of breath.

"Sorry Mom, the meeting downtown took longer than expected." Raya went around the desk to hug her mom tightly.

"Don't worry about it sweetie." She replied, holding back tears. The two had always been close, but it seemed as though Olivia was getting more and more emotional these days with her daughter. "It's your wedding week. You do whatever it is you have to do." Olivia remained holding onto her daughter tightly.

"Hey Ms. Pope, we noticed that the sprinklers on the East lawn are still running and it's looking a little flooded," Leena lied, pointing to the direction they came running from.

"The sprinklers were supposed to turn off three hours ago. Leena, can you show me?" Olivia gasped. There was always something at the resort that wasn't working properly. For once she would love to go a day without something breaking on her. She grabbed a set of master keys and ran out the lobby, following Leena outside.

Raya let out a sigh of relief. Leena would keep her mom distracted for the next hour or so, while she waited for her potential dads to check in. Then she would determine which one was her real dad and check him in to the one cottage she had secretly reserved prior to remain open during the weekend (they were in their peak tourist season so the resort was pretty much booked out). She would then get him situated in his room all before her mom came back, and from there delicately explain the situation to her mother.

That was the one part of her plan that Raya hadn't quite figured out yet: how to tell her mom. She knew she was going to have to be careful since her father was always a sensitive subject. She pulled out a notebook to write down some thoughts to help her prepare a speech when she heard the sounds of the airport shuttle bus screeching into the resort's entry way. She knew this would be them. She tracked all of the flight times from Los Angeles, and all previous LA tourists who stayed at The Fuwele came in the late morning. She dropped her pen and stood at attention practically shaking with excitement as she watched the shuttle doors open.

Raya breathed deeply. This was a moment she had spent 22 years of her life waiting for. She was finally going to meet her dad. She tapped her finger intensely on the front desk as the clock ticked on and looked in complete awe as three figures got off the shuttle and shuffled into the lobby with their bags behind them. The shortest man approached her first.

"Hello," he said in a Scottish accent, "I'm here to check in. I believe a cottage has been reserved under my name for 'Finch.' I'm friends with the owner."

Raya stared at him, unable to speak, unable to move. She looked over his should stealing glances at the two men who stood behind him waiting. She then looked at the Scottish man in front of her. One of these men was her dad. The problem was…she couldn't tell who. They all had a slight resemblance to her in some way, and that "daughter instinct" that she had mentioned to Leena was not functioning in the slightest. Raya was at a loss.

She stood there for a solid minute in complete silence, figuring out her next move. When she saw the fellow in the way back shift his weight and begin to step forward.

"Is everything alright?" He spoke in a soothing deep baritone voice.

"I um-yeah…It's just that we only have one co-cottage and you all…I think we might have overbooked…and umm…." Raya stammered unsure what to do next when out of the corner of her eye she saw her mom coming near. "Mom!" She called out in near panic.

All three men flinched simultaneously at seeing Olivia Pope walk through the door. They blinked repeatedly. Olivia hadn't aged a day since they last saw her. She looked thriving and as beautiful as ever, just like the 22 year old they had met in LA. Had this girl just called Olivia Pope "mom?" How could she have a near adult daughter when she still looked so young?

"Raya, I don't know what your friend was talk about but-" Olivia glanced upward and froze like a deer in headlights. She could have sworn this was all some sick, twisted dream. There was no way she was seeing this image right before her.

"Stephen?...Jake?...Fitz?" She barely whispered. "What are – what are you guys doing here?"

The men quickly picked up that they were not actually invited. Perhaps that email that Olivia sent was a mistake meant for someone else. Whatever the reason, all the men came to the same conclusion that they weren't about to leave this resort and leave Olivia. They wouldn't let Olivia escape again like she had all those years ago.

"I'm um…I'm on vacation. I wanted to go somewhere relaxing," Jake quickly covered to provide an excuse for him to remain at the resort, and the other men followed suit.

"And I actually am here on work. I have a piece I need to write for this new travel magazine I work for now," Stephen followed up to quickly cover his tracks.

Her attention turned to Fitz. Her eyes narrowed so intensely at him in particular, Raya could feel their heat, like inviting him was a serious mistake. Fitz swallowed, realizing that her angry gaze was enough to make him break a sweat.

"And I-uh I…just wanted to drop by to say hi," he stuttered. "So, you know…hi."

"Hello," Olivia spoke harshly and walked around to her daughter. "I'm going to talk to you later." She whispered in her ear. Olivia knew her daughter was clearly the reason behind this. What are the chances that three of her ex-lovers from the same summer would show up at the same time?

"Gentlemen, it's funny to see you all, but I'm afraid that our resort is all booked up. I would be happy to give you information on some of the other similar resorts that are nearby and may have openings-"

"We still have one villa open!" Raya interrupted. In Raya's mind, her mom was going to let her have it for her stunt regardless, so she figured she may as well at least carry on with the plan and have all three of the men stay at the resort. This way she could buy herself more time to determine which one her father was.

"Yes, but the cottages are pretty small and can only fit two people max. Company policy," Olivia trailed off, hoping to turn them away and down the road, or at the very least turn Fitz away.

"That's alright I don't mind sharing. How about it, mate?" Stephen turned his head some to look at Jake and Fit and see if they would take him up on the offer. Stephen grabbed Olivia's hand and held it.

"It really is good to see you, Liv," he whispered lowly, making Olivia blush.

Fitz felt a wave of jealousy flush over him. He knew he had no right to feel angry over this Scottish man. He had no idea who this man was. Probably just some guy that dated Liv after he lost her.

Fitz already knew Jake Ballard though from the Navy, and he even knew about Jake's past with Liv, although Fitz was pretty sure that Jake never caught up with his past with Liv right after she had broken up with Jake. When he came across Jake on the plane, it was nice to catch up with his navy pal. He was surprised to find out that Olivia had invited him, although watching the scene before him, it was all starting to make sense that the whole thing was a mistake, and none of them were invited.

"I'm game," Fitz spoke up, desperately seeking a way to stay and make sure this Stephen fellow wouldn't become a threat. Fitz missed her desperately, and while he realized that he was not actually invited to the resort by her, he hoped he could get her to warm up to him once again. It had taken him some time to get her to warm up to him before; surely he could do it again.

"No," Olivia simply stated.

"What you can't just reject me?" Fitz repeated an all-too familiar phrase. Olivia gave Fitz a glare, forcing him to shut up and rock back and forth on his heels terrified that he would end up leaving after being so close to his Livvie once again.

"You were not next in line. So, he's next," she simply replied as an excuse, pointing to Jake.

"Okay. I don't mind those roommate arrangements. Thanks, Stephen…right?" Jake said sticking his hand out. Fitz had to bite his tongue to hold back from lashing out at the two men who he was sure had a history with Livvie.

"Yep, and of course, mate," Stephen shook Jake's hand. The two men stepped aside, making room for Fitz to come over. Olivia looked down, refusing to look at those piercing blue eyes she knew could unravel her.

"I'm sorry sir, but we are now officially out of rooms. I can give you information of other places nearby or a brochure-"

"Sir? Seriously? Livvie, please," he pleaded. Alas, Olivia looked up and glanced into his eyes. She couldn't help but notice how sad they were. He had a melancholy demeanor to him. Until recently, she had kept up with his career online throughout the years and noticed a growing sense of gloom. And as ruthless as it was to say, it made Olivia a little happy to see him so miserable.

"No. You don't call me that. You can address me as 'ma'am or 'Miss Pope.' Do you understand, sir?" she hissed, emphasizing the "sir" to make clear that they were complete strangers to each other. Raya knew she had to think quickly to lighten the situation before it escalated too far.

"What about the old boathouse? We're turning it into another room," Raya explained and offered as an answer.

"It's not ready yet," Olivia shot back.

"That's fine," Fitz replied, giving off the lightest smile as the corners of his mouth turned upwards.

"There's not even a bed," she tried again determined to make him turn away.

"Fine by me," he retorted unaffected.

"There's no running water in that building. It might not be a boathouse anymore, but it's not nearly ready to be a livable room, yet," Olivia tried one more time to shoo him away.

"So it'll just be like camping. I'm sure I went through worse at the Navy. Don't worry Miss Pope, I won't leave your resort a bad review on Yelp in light of the last-minute accommodations," he joked. "You know I don't mind roughing it for a few days," he whispered in a somewhat husky and sexy voice. Olivia scolded herself for still finding him so attractive all these years later. But she was determined to show him that she was unaffected by his presence.

"Fine, your call. Raya, will you show these three gentlemen to their rooms?" Olivia instructed. Olivia looked on, watching her daughter skip away leading all three of the men that she had met from that one summer through the courtyard. Olivia's eyes watered slightly, realizing after all this time her daughter was walking with her father.

Once Raya and the guys were out of sight, Olivia sprinted to Abby's villa just outside of the lobby building. She banged vigorously on her door.

"Geez, Liv calm down. You're knocking like a mad woman," Abby said slightly annoyed while she opened the door to let her friend in.

"Abby they're here!"

"Who's here?" Olivia looked to see Quinn standing in the corner of Abby's room. Quinn was a fellow American expat like Olivia who moved to Zanzibar after the sudden death of her husband Gideon. Olivia quickly took her under her wing when she arrived to Zanzibar City alone and hired her to work at her resort. She had been a great employee, becoming Liv's second-in command, but also a friend to her as well. While Abby and Quinn did not get along at first, throughout the years they had managed to set aside their differences, much to Olivia's pleasure.

"Raya's father! Raya's father is here! Remember the summer I spent in LA?" she turned to look at Abby.

"Oh my god! Which guy is here?" Abby asked recalling Olivia's detailed descriptions of all the events she had told her from that summer.

Olivia opened the blinds to the windows. She peaked out seeing the small figures of her daughter and the men walking the grounds toward some of the other cottages and pointed.

"All of them!"

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**A/N: Hi everyone. I'm glad to be back here with a new story. It's an Olitz take on the _Mamma Mia_ movies. That being said, I do want to give fair warning that there will be some Olivia and Jake moments and some Olivia and Stephen moments that are shown through flashbacks, but at the center of the story is always Olivia and Fitz. They're going to be the element I focus on the most, and I will not be too detailed in the other relationships to save everyone the nausea. I hope you guys can stick with me through this ride of a story. I hope to be uploading on the regular since I have got some more free time ahead of me. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey everyone. thank you all for the reviews! I know this story might seem different than most Olitz stories, but I promise you it is. It will just be a bit of a slow burn. Here is chapter 2, majority of which is a flashback. I'm going to be bouncing around between the "present" (summer 2019 and Raya's wedding) and the "past" (summer 1996 and Olivia's summer she spent in LA). I hope you enjoy. **

* * *

**Chapter 2**

****Summer 1996****

Olivia paused and took a deep breath, just as Abby had taught her to do. Having a roommate that was also a yoga instructor had benefitted her quite a bit during her stressful college career. It taught her a lot of breathing practices and meditation techniques that she used while completing her Political Science degree at Yale.

College was a particular struggle for Olivia as she was forced into a program she wanted no part of. She understood the honor of being accepted into Yale, and she was appreciative that admissions had accepted her. However ever since she was a little girl, all she wanted to do was sing and write music. She used to write songs with her mother up until she died in her childhood. Olivia learned to use that pain to feed into her creativity and came up with some of her best work while she was in high school.

Becoming a singer/songwriter was something that her father Eli was not going to accept. Especially not when he had hired the best minds to teach his daughter, paid for her to attend the best schools, and do everything within his power to make his daughter a golden ivy-league candidate. Olivia was grateful for her father's dedication, so she agreed to put aside her music career in order to go to Yale and major in Political Science just as her father had wanted. She struggled balancing her school with her music, but with Abby's help and all around Zen, she pushed through.

After college her dad had insisted she go on to law school, but it was at that point that Olivia had to put her foot down and say no. She made clear that she did not want to go into law. She wanted to become a singer, she always had. Her father was not going to have it. He had yelled at her, calling her a "waste" a "naïve idiot" a "moron with no future." By the end of the intense bitter fight, Olivia booked the first one-way ticket she could to LA to prove her father wrong.

This was by far the most spontaneous thing she had ever done. She was never one to do anything too outrageous in her undergrad years, and now here she was with only a single suitcase and the money in her purse landing into sunny Los Angeles. She had no idea what to do once she got off the plane, where she would go, where she would stay, how she would find work. The only thing she knew was that she was not going to go back to her father in DC.

One by one everyone de-boarded the plane while Olivia remained fastened into her seat. She watched as the people in the rows behind passed through the aisle.

"After you." She heard a thick Scottish accent and looked up. She saw a young man no more than two or three years older her. He was handsome, kind brown eyes, lazy scruff leftover from the night before, and dark, rich black hair.

"That's alright. Go ahead." Olivia replied.

"Are you sure? You know, passengers typically exit the plane front to back." He was charming too, giving her a smooth smile.

"Well, I'm in no rush, so go ahead."

"Alright then." The man dismissed Olivia and made his way off the plane.

Eventually, once all the passengers had left, Olivia knew she too had to get off and face her new life ahead of her. She exited the plane and walked through LAX. Walking down to the baggage claim area, Olivia took in all her surroundings. This was LA. This would be where she was finally going to start her life, the life she wished she had started four years ago. Olivia spotted her flight's carousel and searched for her lone suitcase. She spotted it on the other side and ran toward her bag, just barely getting a grip of the handle on her bag and pulling it off of the carousel with all of her strength. She put it on the ground and took a moment to catch her breath. She really needed to start getting some muscle in her arms.

"Excuse me, but I believe you have my bag there," Olivia looked up, hearing the familiar voice and seeing the man from the plane earlier.

"No, this is my suitcase," Olivia explained.

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure that's my bag," The man reaffirmed. It was a generic black suitcase, nothing about it unique or special.

"Here I'll check," Olivia offered.

"Oh no, you don't have to-" but it was too late as Olivia unzipped the suitcase revealing its contents. Lying on top of all the clothes laid a pile of unfolded and wrinkled boxers. The man immediately blushed.

"I uh I suppose those boxers aren't yours," he sighed. "You take me as the type of person more likely to wear briefs," he heartily laughed.

"Oh my god. I am so sorry!" Olivia apologized full of shame as she zipped the suitcase closed as quickly as she could. "This is yours. But that means…where is mine?" She wondered out loud. From the corner of her she saw her bag go immediately past them and lunged forward to grab hold of hers. She felt the bag lift off the carousel with ease and saw the man behind her grabbing hold and helping her take it off.

"Thanks. And I'm sorry about the confusion again." Olivia apologized.

"That's alright you can make it up to me," Olivia looked at him quizzically. "Would you like to grab a cup of coffee? I normally wouldn't ask this of complete stranger to respect their time, but seeing that you're not in any rush…" He trailed off, staring at Liv.

She was absolutely beautiful. He was never one to be this direct with asking any girl out. He had always been shy. But there something about her that made him know he had to act quickly or he would regret it. He never believed in love at first site, but this felt pretty damn close for him.

"It's on me," he offered.

"Well, I suppose if you're offering," Olivia went on with a hint of a laugh in her voice. Here she was in a completely new city, and she was already making her first friend. She felt pretty confident things were going to be alright in the end. "My name's Olivia, Olivia Pope."

"Stephen Finch," he held out his hand to shake Olivia's. "Nice to meet you Olivia."

"You too Stephen."

"Well shall we? I know there's a Starbucks right before the parking garage of this place," he led Olivia down the airport toward a café.

"So, how long are you here for?" Stephen asked taking a sip of his iced latte.

"Uh…well it's actually kind of funny. As of now I have no return trip planned…" Olivia explained, staring at the floor, feeling slightly ashamed to have made as reckless a decision as she had.

"Wait, you mean to tell me you have you moved to LA, and all you have is that single suitcase?" Stephen asked in awe pointing down to the suitcase.

"I'm a pretty good packer."

"And what made you decide to just up and move from DC to LA?"

Olivia paused not sure how to answer. She wanted to be a singer sure, but her music was never something she talked about except with her closest of friends. She was pretty private about that element of her life. After being harassed by her father over her goals she had adopted the habit of not bringing it up, especially to strangers. Just as she was thinking of a list of potential excuses she could give Stephen for her move, her train of thought was interrupted.

"Let me guess. Seeking fame?"

"Yeah, I uh I've had this dream of living in LA for a while and I guess…I just thought it was time," she said plainly, remaining vague.

"Actress?" Stephen took a stab at guessing Olivia's plans.

"Oh no. I couldn't act if my life depended on it."

"Good, good, because you took me as a model anyway," he bluntly flirted. He heard her laugh, and he swore he never heard anything more beautiful. He had never been this straightforward in his attempts to flirt. She was bringing out a feeling of confidence in him. He found it easy to talk to her and not be his typical reserved self. She was simply magic to him.

"I'm no model," Olivia laughed.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. So what are you here for?"

"I write songs," Olivia said. She had only known Stephen for about ten minutes, and here she was telling him one of her more secretive passions.

"I write songs and I sing a little," she told him. She was impressed with how easy it was for her to tell him about her singing. She usually hated to be in situations that seemed to brag about her talent. It always made her feel uncomfortable. But here she was sharing these details with a man she met at the airport.

"You're a singer!" Stephen spoke excitedly. "I would love to hear you sometime."

"Oh no, I don't sing…I mean I do. I do sing! But I'm just starting out here; I don't really have any gigs lined up or anything. I have no plan, no connections." Liv fiddled with the straw of her drink, embarrassed by how much of a beginner she was to this whole "show biz" life.

"Well everyone starts somewhere," Stephen said with a smile and took a sip of his drink. He placed it down and took a minute to think to himself. "I'm a writer. And I-I actually write for a music magazine, which is why I think it's so amazing that you're pursuing music. I know some people in the industry, if you would like I can help you get in touch with them."

Stephen worked for _Billboard_ magazine that much was true, but he was no writer. He aspired one day to be a professional writer that was always his goal, but he was working at _Billboard_ as an office assistant. His daily tasks included making copies and passing out memos, not meeting and working with singers and music producers. He just wanted to impress her.

"Are you serious? That would be amazing!" Olivia exclaimed. Stephen nodded slightly cringing on the inside by his own lie.

"I can't believe I decided to leave my home life today with no absolutely plan, and I run into you. Are you a guardian angel or something?" Olivia smirked.

Stephen laughed but felt a wave of dread on the lie he had just created. He quickly changed the subject to push away any future guilt.

"So where are you staying?"

"I haven't exactly figured it out yet. Do you know any cheap motels I could stay at until I find a place?" Olivia asked. Stephen's eyes immediately lit up.

"As a matter of fact I do. One of my roommates moved out to Seattle just last month, and my buddies and I are looking for a roommate to take his spot."

"Oh Stephen, you've been so kind already. I couldn't possibly also accept an offer to stay with you."

"Don't think of it as 'staying' with me, think of it as 'moving in.' We really are looking for a roommate. The rent isn't too bad, and the building handles water expenses."

"But what about you're other roommates?" Olivia didn't want to intrude and have Stephen's roommates feel uncomfortable with a random person they had never met moving into their home.

"They won't mind. They're some of the coolest guys you will ever meet. You'll love them!" Stephen then hushed his tone and leaned in. "Being housemates wouldn't be too weird, I mean after all, you did already see my underwear. "

Olivia giggled at Stephen's charm. She was really liking him. He was so easy to talk to it was like they had been friends since childhood. Olivia nodded her head and agreed.

"Okay. Thank you, Stephen."

"My pleasure. Now let's drink up so I can introduce you to the other guys." Stephen lifted his drink off the table and Olivia followed, clinking their iced lattes as a toast to a new life.

"Hey guys, this is Olivia. She just moved here from DC and needed a place to live. I figured she could cover for Lenny," Stephen announced as he entered the door to the apartment with Olivia behind him. "Don't worry she's not a serial killer or anything, I did an extreme background check on her," Stephen joked. It dawned on him though that he had not done any kind of background check at all.

"You're not a serial killer right?" He said peaking over his shoulder at Liv.

"No," She laughed.

"She's not a serial killer," Stephen announced again.

Olivia looked around the apartment. It was pretty good sized. Good for LA. The Living room was equipped with a TV and a gaming system, a big couch as well. She saw two men stand up from the couch.

"Olivia, meet Huck and Harrison." Stephen gestured toward the two men standing up.

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Hey guys. Thank you for letting me stay with you. I know it's pretty sudden, but I swear I'm a pretty low maintenance roommate. I'll try not to be any trouble at all." Olivia spoke apologetically. She felt bad just barging in here even with Stephen's invitation.

"Don't worry about it. You're totally fine." Huck responded.

"What brings you to move to LA?" Harrison asked.

Olivia looked at Stephen and felt reassured in her confidence to come clean about her dreams.

"I want to be a singer."

"That's cool. I have a guitar if you ever want to borrow," Harrison said.

"That's ok. I actually play piano, not much guitar," Olivia explained. "I'll probably have to buy a keyboard to practice, as long as you guys don't mind of course."

"No problem, as long as you promise to give me some lessons," Harrison smiled, receiving a grimacing look from Stephen who felt a flare of anger seeing his roommate flirt.

"Right, well I'll show you to your room. Follow me," Stephen said as he walked through the living room and showed Olivia the way.

A few minutes later after settling Olivia into her room and showing her the general layout of the apartment, Stephen returned to his friends in the living room.

"Where's Olivia?" Huck asked, not looking up from the screen of the video game that he and Harrison were playing.

"She's unpacking," Stephen heard both Huck and Harrison let out a snicker. "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing, man. You just got it bad," Harrison laughed.

"What are you talking about?"

"With that Olivia girl. You got it bad. I can tell. It's all over your face."

"No I don't. I don't know what you guys are talking about. She's just a friend I made at the airport." Stephen insisted on shutting them down before it created any potentially embarrassing scenarios.

"It's pretty obvious, dude," Huck added. Stephen let out a long sigh. He knew he was going to be at the mercy of his two roommates so long as Olivia was around.

"Hey man, don't be ashamed. It's actually pretty cute this little puppy-dog crush you've got going on," Harrison laughed, jabbing Huck on the side with his elbow to encourage him to continue the teasing.

"I don't have a puppy-dog crush!" Stephen raised his voice, but kept it low enough so Olivia wouldn't hear.

"Look call it whatever you want." Huck said. "I'm just glad to see you finally get over Georgia after like what…two years?"

The three men immediately shut up upon hearing footsteps enter the room.

"You're all unpacked?" Stephen asked.

"I've got all the basics done." Olivia replied. "I'm going to have to go shopping to get some things though. I was hoping you could show me around tomorrow morning. I don't really know the stores in this area."

"Of course, Olivia. We can make an LA holiday of it. Do some shopping at the most classic stores, hunt for famous people, go to the beach."

"Sounds great! Thank you, Stephen for everything!" Olivia turned around and headed back to her room for a shower and some sleep. Once she was out of earshot the tormenting once again began.

"'We can make an LA holiday of it,'" Harrison laughed mimicking Stephen's voice and accent. Stephen took the couch pillow, chucking it at his head.

*****Summer 2019*****

Raya finished showing all of the men their rooms for their stay. She was worried on how Fitz was going to take staying in the boathouse, but he seemed to be completely fine with rundown shack.

Raya whizzed through the main area of the resort with her heart racing and her hands running through her hair. She didn't know what she was going to do. She didn't know what she was going to tell her mom. She didn't know who she was going to ask to walk her down the aisle on Friday.

"So where is he?" Raya's eyes shot up, seeing Leena approach her.

"Oh Leena, thank god," Raya was almost in tears.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"Leena I don't know. I know I said I would know, but I can't tell. And now they're all staying here. What should I do?" She began to cry.

"Hey Raya, it's ok. It's going to be fine," Leena rubbed her back to sooth Raya after a few minutes of crying. "You said they're all staying here now?"

Raya nodded and let out a sniffle.

"That's good," Leena said.

"That's good?" Raya couldn't follow. If the three men figured out that they all had been with her mother around the same time, there's no telling what kind of brawl could possibly break out; not to mention how humiliated her mother would be once it went public that Olivia did not know who her daughter's father was.

"Yeah, it's good. This is a good chance for you spend time with them - all three of them. Maybe spending time bonding and learning about them will help you figure it out. For example, both my dad and I are allergic to dogs. Maybe you can spend time with them and then use process of elimination."

Raya looked up at her friend. She had a very good point there.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right." Raya smiled. So what if she didn't know which guy her dad was. She would spend time with all three of potential dads learning about each one to figure it out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Ok so I'm going to give a warning that there are some Stephen and Jake moments in the flashbacks here. It is all part of the story, and I promise i won't take too long to upload the next chapter so we're not stuck with those moments for long. Get ready because in Chapter 4 we'll have a lot more Olitz moments!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

*****Summer 1996*****

"I can't believe you moved to LA, and you didn't even think to bring a swimsuit," Stephen laughed as he walked alongside Olivia on the beach. They had finished their shopping spree, and Stephen took it upon himself to show Olivia all the classic LA hot spots.

"Well you know it was pretty last minute, and you saw my suitcase." Olivia retorted.

"Oh I'm sure you could have fit a bikini in there. I mean the one you're wearing right now is rather – um-"

"Rather what, Stephen?"

"Um…it's rather small," Stephen stopped, taking in Olivia's body wearing a small bright green bikini.

"What you don't like it?" She teased flaunting her ass in front of him.

"Hey! Now I never said that," Stephen blushed. "Are you hungry?"

Olivia nodded.

"Great! There's a food cart not too far away, how about I go grab us some hotdogs?" Stephen suggested and Olivia nodded once again and watched Stephen run off toward the beach's boardwalk.

All of a sudden she heard a rather loud shout.

"LOOK OUT! INCOMING!"

Olivia looked up right in time to see a Frisbee in path with a small nearby child's head. With her quickest reflexes that surprised even herself she jumped up and caught the disc all before it could get too close.

"Whoa! Nice catch," said a muscular brunette jogging toward her. "I'm really sorry about that. My navy buddies and I are on leave right now, and we can get a little careless when we're on vacation." He had learned to mention the Navy wherever he could. He found it to be a dealmaker with the many girls he had encountered, and he hoped this beautiful woman in front of him would be no different.

"You're in the Navy?" Olivia mused, he could already tell it was working.

"Commander Jake Ballard," he smiled and held out his hand. Olivia looked at his eyes. They were a gorgeous shade of green that she adored.

"Olivia Pope," she introduced herself.

"Well if you would care to join us, we've got a spot set up over there and a couple of beers in a cooler," Jake invited, smiling at Olivia and making her blush.

"I probably shouldn't. My friend just ran off to grab us hotdogs, and I don't want him to get concerned looking for me."

"Him? I see…so this friend-"

"He's just a friend!" Olivia quickly interrupted. She didn't want to give off the impression she was off the market. Sure she liked Stephen, but it was truly as a friend, though she could tell that Stephen had a bit of a crush on her. "Really. He's just a friend who's showing me around the area because I just moved here." She explained.

"Well welcome. How are you enjoying it so far?" Jake asked genuinely curious to learn more about her.

"It's pretty nice, and hot. It's way better than the weather I'm used to in DC where I'm from."

"Ah DC. I'm pretty familiar with that town as well from some previous assignments. Have you ever been to Tombs? It's a bar near Georgetown-"

"Of course I've been! I love Tombs," Olivia enjoyed reminiscing on some of her hometown places with this green-eyed stranger.

"Hey if you like Tombs, I think I know another bar around here that you'll like. It's called Break Room. I think you would love it."

"That sounds nice. Thank you for the recommendation," Olivia smiled politely.

"I could take you sometime…if you want?" Jake muttered, trying to seal the deal with Olivia.

"I didn't take Navy boys to be the kind that take out girls they only met five minutes ago."

"Well, I'm a good judge of character. It comes with the training," he smirked, egging Olivia on. "Come on…if it helps they do karaoke sometimes…." He urged. Olivia thought that karaoke might be a good way to make her debut in LA. She didn't think it would get her a record deal – of course she wasn't that naïve. But she thought that maybe she could test out her singing in front of an LA crowd to see if she had what it took to make it here.

"Ok. I'm in." Olivia reached into her bag and ripped out a page from her notebook and a pen and started to write. "Here is my address." She said, handing the paper over to Jake.

"Great! I'll pick you up at 7?"

"Sounds good. It was nice to meet you commander Ballard. See you later tonight." She smiled.

"Olivia, the pleasure was all mine," Jake winked and turned away to join his other friends by the shore.

Olivia couldn't believe what she had done. She normally would never agree to a date with a man she only met five minutes ago. But then again she also thought she would never pack up and leave her life in DC, and here she was. She was going to have to break the news to Stephen who she knew would be upset. She suspected he had some feelings for her, but it would probably be best to be direct with him much more early on. She saw him approaching her with two hotdogs in hand.

"Here you go. I wasn't sure what you like on your dog, so I just got ketchup. I was going to do mustard too, but then again I know not everyone is a fan of mustard, and there are so many types of mustard, and some people can be really picky about which type of mustard they get that they would rather have no mustard at all..." Stephen blindly rambled, not taking a single pause. "Anyway, did I miss anything?"

"Um yeah…I actually got asked out on a date," Olivia gently explained, still in some awe over Jake Ballard.

"I see…wait what?" Stephen exclaimed.

"I got asked out on a date, and I'm going to this karaoke bar with him."

"Olivia, do you even know this guy?"

"Hey, I didn't know you, and now we're roommates," she pointed out. Stephen sighed, realizing she did have a point there.

"And what if this dude is a serial killer?" Stephen asked.

"What's up with you and assuming everyone is a serial killer?"

"Olivia, I'm serious."

"He's in the Navy and is on leave right now. I think the Navy has a pretty intense vetting process."

"Oh he's a Navy boy…" Stephen lightened up a little bit. If this guy was on leave from the Navy then he wouldn't be around for all too long. "I mean if he's volunteering to serve his country, then he's probably in the clear," Stephen added in, pretending to be on board with Olivia's decision to go out with this stranger.

"Thank you, Stephen. I'm glad you came around," she punched his shoulder, and they continued to walk along the beach.

Olivia and Jake were enjoying their shared pizza, talking about their lives.

* * *

"So how long are you on leave for?" Olivia asked. Jake stopped for a minute to swallow his food.

"About three months."

"And what made you decide to join the Navy in the first place?"

"Good question!" Jake took a sip of his beer. "I was born in a pretty rural town in southern Illinois. It was the kind of place where once you're born there, you pretty much die there. But I didn't want to stay and farm. I had to get out and see what's out there, you know?"

"Oh believe me, I understand," Olivia muttered.

"My options were pretty much earn a college scholarship or join the armed forces. The former didn't really work out, so I went with the latter. But I'm nevertheless proud to be a United States Navy officer." Jake declared, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"And what about you? What's your story? You just moved here. There's got to be a reason, right?"

"Yes, well I write songs, and…and I sing a little bit too…sometimes." Olivia blushed at her confession. Jake grabbed both of her hands into his much larger hands and forced her to look up.

"Hey, hey come on, look at me," Jake pushed. "Look at me," Jake stated more firmly. Olivia glanced up.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about. It's good," He smiled. Both of their attention was immediately brought to a loud high pitch screaming of the current karaoke participant. "I think I can safely say without even hearing you sing that you are more talented than half the people in this bar."

Olivia laughed at Jake's joke and the girl attempting to sing, "I will Always Love You."

The MC of the bar quickly approached mic the minute the girl was done hollering, much to the appreciation of all the customers.

"Thank you Rebecca…" he cringed slightly. "Is there anyone else who would like to go?"

Olivia glanced at Jake quickly and saw a look in his eyes. Before she could even stop him his hand was already halfway in the air.

"She wants to sing!" he declared, using his other hand to point at Olivia.

"Jake, no!" she shouted. The more she thought about performing, the more she thought it was a bad idea.

"Come on Olivia, take a little risk," Jake teased. "She'll sing," he stated louder this time. Olivia placed her head in her hands.

"Excellent. And what might this beautiful lady's name be?" the MC asked approaching their booth and shoving the microphone right in Liv's partially blocked face.

"Olivia Pope," she stated simply with no emotion. The MC reached out his hand and helped Olivia onto her feet, walking her toward the stage.

"You'll do great, Liv!" Jake reassured her as she passed him.

Olivia stood on stage with a bright light gleaming down on her, blinding her from being able to see all the people around the stage. It was just her alone, front and center of the stage, her mouth inches away from the microphone.

"And what song are you going to be singing for us?" the MC who was waiting by the karaoke machine snapped Olivia out of her trance.

"Oh uh…I'll be singing 'Honey, Honey,'" Olivia stammered. No more than three seconds later Olivia heard the intro to the song. She had to say something quickly or risk looking like an idiot. She tried to work up her courage. If she couldn't sing at a karaoke bar, how the hell could she succeed singing at a live sold-out venue. The time for the lyrics came on the screen and Olivia quickly transformed herself to a woman emitting confidence.

_"Honey honey, how you thrill me, a-ha, honey honey__  
__Honey honey, nearly kill me, a-ha, honey honey__  
__I'd heard about you before__  
__I wanted to know some more__  
__And now I know what they mean, you're a love machine__  
__Oh, you make me dizzy__  
__Honey honey, let me feel it, a-ha, honey honey__  
__Honey honey, don't conceal it, a-ha, honey honey"_

Olivia finished her song with an extreme roar of applause. There was no question that she was by far the most popular and most talented performer of the night. She went back to her booth, being stopped consistently by other customers as she made her way back to Jake. She finally made it back to her table and sat down.

"What?" Olivia asked. Jake was giving her the most bewildered look. His green eyes looked so intense and crazy for her. "What is it?"

"I am so turned on by you right now, Olivia Pope," he uttered. Olivia giggled at his compliment.

"I think I know a way we can fix that, _honey_," she taunted him, driving him crazy. Jake quickly paid for their meals and grabbed Olivia in his arms, kissing her once they made it outside. The kiss was sloppy and rushed, but signaled much more to come.

"Come back to my hotel with me?" he asked between breaths of their make-out session outside the door.

"Please!" Olivia begged. Jake stopped the kiss and looked at Olivia for a moment.

"Tell you what, tomorrow I'll take you to a talent agency, but tonight I'll take you to bed," he grinned. The two made out through the parking as they stumbled their way toward Jake's car.

* * *

*****Summer 2019*****

"Olivia, hey! You're daughter said I could find you in here. I need a quick favor-" Stephen stopped realizing that the cottage he was currently in was some guest's room. "Oh I'm sorry. I hope I'm not interrupting." Stephen apologized staring at the attractive redhead who stood before him.

"What's going on, Stephen?" Olivia said slightly annoyed.

"Uh hi. I'm Stephen," Stephen said walking right past Olivia to introduce himself to the woman in the corner.

"Oh! You're Stephen! I'm Abby," she said, introducing herself, throughout Olivia's journey that one thrilling summer, she kept in constant contact with Abby, filling her in on all the characters she encountered.

"Oh my god, you're the famous Abby! Back when Liv and I lived together, she never stopped talking about how wonderful you were, isn't that right, Olivia?" Stephen looked over his shoulder at Olivia.

"What do you need?" She replied, ignoring Stephen's earlier comment.

"Oh right. Well, it appears that my toiletries had a bit of an accident on the plane and exploded everywhere. I was wondering if you would know where I can happen to buy more."

"The resort is pretty far out from a lot of the main stores, but I can have my daughter take you to town tomorrow, so you can buy some things." Olivia explained.

"That would be fantastic," Stephen smiled gleefully, still staring at Abby. "Well, I should probably go and unpack my stuff that isn't covered in shampoo and soap. It was great to see you again Liv, and nice to meet you Abby." He blushed, backing his way out of the room and nearly tripping over his own two feet clumsily, and making Abby laugh.

* * *

Fitz looked around his villa – or really shed. Olivia wasn't exaggerating at all when she said the place wasn't nearly ready. It was pretty small and damp with only a single light bulb in the whole shed controlled by a pull string. There was a small nook within the shed that Fitz assumed would become the bathroom once a lot of work was done on this place. For now it was really just a wooden shack full of storage crates with a lingering smell of seawater and fish.

"I hope this is alright. I know it's probably not what you were expecting."

Fitz jumped at the voice that startled him and turned around to see Raya and Jake standing in the doorway.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to drop off some blankets and a pillow for you." Raya handed the items to Fitz.

"Thanks," he said putting the items on the floor. "And really it's ok. It's not too bad," Fitz lied.

"Well Jake and I were going to go paddle boarding. Do you want to come?" Raya asked, eager to spend as much time with as many of her "dads" as she possibly could.

Fitz frankly didn't want to be spending any more time than what was necessary with Jake, especially when Olivia was around. He needed to find her and try to win her back in the next few days. He knew his time at this resort was limited and once he checked out, he knew Olivia would do anything in her power to ensure he could never make a reservation again.

"Nah, that's ok. You guys go ahead. I've got some work I need to do."

"And what work could you possibly have. I thought you were retired, governor?" Jake teased, getting a major side-eye from Fitz.

"Governor?" Raya asked like this was the first time she had heard anything about him being a politician. When she sent out the email she had done Internet searches on all of them, so Fitz's political career was no secret to her. She had read up on his two terms as California governor, his recent failed presidential bid, and his very public divorce from his wife of eighteen years shortly after. He was the one guy that she knew the most about already because he was such a public figure in American politics. But in order to hide her involvement of her scheme, she couldn't let the guys know about her background searches on them, it would give the secret away that she had been the one who invited them. She had to play it dumb, like she knew nothing about any of them.

"Yeah, don't you know Fitzy, here was a two-term governor of California?" Jake answered Raya's question. Fitz grew angry at Jake's use of his nickname "Fitzy." Mellie used to call him that in interviews to seem cute and it absolutely disgusted him and made him want to gag.

"It was years ago. It doesn't matter." Fitz grumbled and distracted himself by laying out the blankets into a makeshift pallet for himself.

"He even made a run for President!" Jake said excitedly, proud that he knew Fitz on such a personal level before he even became a well-known politician. "But he didn't make it too far. He dropped before the first primary-"

"I had to!" Fitz yelled, angry. His presidential run was a sore subject for him that he didn't discuss with anyone. He looked up and saw the scared look on Raya's face. He didn't want to scare her. He didn't want to scare anyone, but he especially didn't want Olivia's daughter to be scared of him. Immediately shame swept over his face from his outburst. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice." He spoke calmly.

"Why did you drop?" Raya asked calmly. Online she had read that it was due to personal turmoil within his marriage. His divorce happened only a year after his run so it wouldn't surprise her if that were the case.

"My mom, she uh…she got sick." Fitz quickly explained and took a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry. That must have been really difficult." Fitz looked up at Raya and could have sworn he was looking at Liv's twin. She had the same eyes as her, the same composure, and the same soothing energy that made Fitz just want to hold her.

"It's alright," he mumbled.

"Well we better get going. The water is usually at its warmest at this time." Raya said to Jake and the two headed off toward the resort's beachside. Once he knew the two were gone, Fitz left the shed in search of Olivia.

* * *

"You can't just paddle on one side. You have to do both evenly if you want to move forward. Otherwise you'll just end up going in a circle!" Raya called out to Jake, who for a Navy man was really struggling with this water sport.

"I would paddle on my right side if I felt a little more confident I won't lean too far over!" Jake called back with fear clear in his voice. Raya chuckled, giving her a brilliant idea. She slowly got down onto her paddleboard and then slipped off of it into the water.

"Raya! Hey Raya! What are you doing? Raya, don't you dare!" Jake yelled as he saw Raya swimming toward him. Before he could even give out another warning he felt a hard shove of his board, making him tumble into the ocean.

Jake popped to surface, breathing heavily to try and get his bearing when he saw Raya pop up right before him, startling him.

"Boo!" She yelled like a small child, laughing hysterically.

"Jeez, you scared me…" Jake panted. "God, you are so much like your mother it's insane," he spoke solemnly. Her youthful energy, and enthusiasm was exactly how Liv was when she was starting her new life in LA.

"What was she life? My mother, when you knew her?" Raya asked.

"Well I didn't know for too long, but she was extraordinary, really extraordinary."

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of relationship did you have with my mother?"

"Excuse me?" Jake said surprised by how direct this was.

"I know you guys dated, that much was clear by the interaction at the front desk. But what happened that ended it?" Raya wanted to be efficient in her quest to find her dad, and if that meant having to ask some uncomfortable questions directly, then so be it.

"I-I lost her," Jake sighed, treading in the water. "She was the best person I had ever met, and I let my dumb youth and arrogance get in the way."

"I don't follow…"

"I was a different person back then. I had a lot of commitment problems that I've been working through. But losing your mom is what opened me up to address that. Take a lesson from me, and when you find the right person, do whatever you need to make them happy," Jake whispered with sad eyes staring at the water's surface. He didn't mean to bring the mood into such a downer and instantly perked his head up. "Now come on. Let's get back on our boards and hold a race off to that buoy and back."

Raya laughed at Jake's request. "You want to race right now? Seriously? You can't even steer."

"What? Scared you're going to lose?" Jake teased sarcastically, propping himself onto his board, and Raya followed suit.

To Raya, Jake seemed like a nice guy. Fun and energetic, Raya could see why her mom fell for him. She felt herself bonding to Jake as they raced around the water goofing off. She had managed to bond with one of the guys, now she had two more to go.

* * *

**A/N: Get ready because in the next chapter we'll focus more on Olivia and Fitz and see how they first met during that one summer.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

*****Summer 2019*****

To say Olivia was feeling stressed was the understatement of the century. How had today gone so wrong. Just several hours ago she was managing the resort and planning her daughter's wedding, now here she was faced with her demons from her past. She had left the United States long ago and came to this island with strong hope that she would never have to face neither Jake, nor Stephen, nor Fitz ever again. Now she had to face all three at the same time.

Olivia had no doubt that it was her mischievous daughter behind this. Raya must have gone snooping through her stuff at some point. Maybe she just should have been honest with Raya about her father. Maybe if she was just more open to talking about him when Raya was a kid, she wouldn't be in the situation she was in now. Olivia paced back and forth in the lobby, thinking over all the men at that point in her life.

Her encounter with Stephen hadn't gone too bad. And if she was being honest, she had missed his goofiness and having him as a friend and roommate. Plus she didn't think she would have to worry about him falling for her since it appeared he was getting friendly with Abby. Olivia envisioned reconnecting with Stephen as something that was possible in the future. Then there was Jake who she hadn't spoken to in a long time, and didn't really want to.

But in Olivia's mind Jake wasn't nearly as bad as Fitz. She couldn't stomach the fact that they were on the same premises at the moment. It made her mad, enraged…and also nervous? Why was she suddenly feeling butterflies? Olivia put aside the nerves she was feeling by having Fitz around and sat on the bench of the grand piano in the lobby.

Whenever she was stressed, she found herself playing music. It helped relax her, and right now was no exception. She put her wrists in the proper position and began to play, improvising a slow melody as she went along. Suddenly she felt extra weight on the bench and through the corner of her eye saw Fitz sitting right next to her. She immediate stopped her playing.

"You still play the piano?" Fitz tried to chime into some friendly conversation with his lost love.

"It's not really something you just forget," Olivia snapped back quickly and shortly, shutting the piano and standing up off of the bench.

"No I didn't…I mean…" Fitz was floundering. Of course she can still play the piano! What a dumb question. What was he thinking? "I mean it's nice to see that some things never change. That melody was beautiful, Liv, it really was."

"Yeah some things never change, Fitz, some people never change too," she turned around to walk away.

"Livvie, wait!" Fitz called out. "Please just hear me out. I have changed. What happened all those years ago, it was all…it was-"

"Part of Big Gerry's plan. A plan that, if I recall correctly, you strictly followed until about three years ago," Olivia filled in the gap for him.

"No," Fitz shook his head. "It wasn't like that."

"Do you want to look me in the eye then and tell me that running for President was a choice you made, something that you wanted to do?" Olivia waited for Fitz, but got absolutely no response. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I'm glad you got out of being Big Gerry's puppet. Too bad it was about twenty years too late."

Fitz clenched his hands and closed his. He knew Olivia was right. She had read him perfectly. She had every right to be mad at him.

"Please, Livvie," he pleaded, but when he looked up she was gone. Fitz sighed in frustration. How did they end up where they were from when they first met?

* * *

*****Summer 1996*****

Olivia had been seeing Jake for three weeks now, and things couldn't be better for her. He was funny, bold, and charming, though Olivia got a little bit of a player vibe from him, she assumed giving him some time to mature, he would grow out of it. Stephen was also being helpful as ever. She was getting into contact with several people in the music industry. Showing them her songs. She knew it would be awhile until she became a singing star of course, but she figured she might be able to sell a song or two in order to make some ends meet for now. As shocked as she was to have made the spontaneous decision that she had, things seemed to be going alright for her for now.

"Mmmm good morning…" Jake groaned groggily as he tried to raise his head off the pillow.

"Good morning to you, sleepy head." Olivia rolled over in the bed to give him a quick peck on the lips.

"What are you doing awake so early?" Jake asked. Usually he was always up before her, as a Navy man early wake up was part of his routine.

"I was just thinking."

"Thinking?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking about how happy I am…here…with you." Olivia felt Jake's body tense up, which worried her immensely. She had come to realize he was not one to express feelings all too well, but this alarmed her. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. I just…uh I forgot to ask you something last night," Jake scattered to change the subject.

"What is it?"

"One of my Navy buddies is being discharged this weekend, and there's going to be a huge party. Would you want to sing for the event?"

"Sing for a welcome home party?" Olivia asked, slightly insulted that Jake would ask her to do something so miniscule.

"It's not just a welcome home party, Liv, it's going to be a huge event. Do you know the senator of California, Fitzgerald Grant?"

"Of course." She might have been pursuing a music career, but she was still a political news junkie through and through. "Self-made man, two-term governor, three-term senator." She recited.

"It's his son."

"No way!" Olivia sat up quickly. This meant there would be a whole web of wealthy and influential individuals, a perfect opportunity for her to network and showcase some of her songs. "And they want me to sing?" she said in complete disbelief.

"He and I are close, like brothers almost. He said they were looking for someone and I mentioned you. It's yours if you want it."

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Olivia chided gleefully kissing Jake between each "Yes!"

"Jake, thank you! I have no idea how I could ever repay you."

"I've got a few ideas…" Jake smirked, dipping his head under the covers.

* * *

Olivia took deep breath in and out as she prepared behind the curtain. This party was much larger and fancier than she could ever have imagined. She knew it was the senator's son and would be a big deal, but she didn't imagine two hundred people, a five-course meal, and an entire orchestra to be used as back up for her. This was all so overwhelming, but also an important moment for her to make a big break and leave an impression on some pretty powerful people. Olivia closed her eyes and started to do the breathing exercises Abby had taught her to help relax.

"What are you doing?"

Olivia stopped in her tracks looking at the source of the voice. She saw a tall Navy officer dressed in uniform with curly brown locks and a golden tan walk toward her.

"I'm getting ready to perform. Are you performing also?"

"Me? Oh god no. I can't sing," the man chuckled leaning against the wall.

"Then really I think I should be asking you what you're doing behind here?"

"Just trying to avoid people."

"Not much of a party person?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at the man. If Olivia had to guess she would say he looked a little older than her and her friends, no more than 30 for sure.

"Not really my scene," he smirked adjusting his Navy cap. "I was under the impression that this was going to be a much smaller and more intimate event, but of course Big Gerry Grant has to be one who always puts on a show," he scoffed.

"You're telling me. I didn't realize how many people I was going to be singing for," Olivia said slightly tense.

"I'm sure you'll be great. Just keep doing those- what was it that you were doing?" he asked leaning off the wall and closing the gap between them.

"Breathing exercises," she replied.

"To help you sing?"

"No, well sort of. They help you relax, which probably betters my singing, but you can use it just about anywhere." Olivia could tell the man in front of her was suffering as well. He had social anxiety written all over his face from this large crowd, clearly parties were not his scene.

"Here," Olivia said grabbing the man's hands, "close your eyes." He looked at her questioningly.

"Close your eyes," she repeated, and he followed her lead.

"Ok good. Now follow my voice," she instructed. "In 2, 3, 4; hold 2, 3, 4; out 2, 3, 4. In 2, 3, 4; hold 2, 3, 4; out 2, 3, 4." She continued a few more times. He followed her every word, a feeling of ease came over him. Olivia could feel him letting go of the tension within him. After another round she let go.

"Better?"

"Much," he said, slowly opening his eyes and giving the woman a warm smile. Their eyes locked for a hot second, and a feeling of instant connection washed over both of them. Had Olivia not had fresh thoughts of Jake in her head, she probably would have ended up leaning in to kiss the man.

"Um I should probably…" Olivia trailed off pointing to the direction of the stage.

"Right, right, I should probably get back to the party anyways," he mumbled heavily and walked away.

Olivia watched from the side as the orchestra took their spots on the stage, signaling that it was time for her walk onto her mark. Olivia walked onto the stage in front of the microphone. She looked out into the room of people, but it was massive. She searched trying to find Jake's face. If she could just see a familiar face there, she knew she would be okay. But the room was too huge and completely packed. She scanned the tables as quickly as she could, trying to find anyone she recognized seated. Olivia felt herself beginning to sweat and shut down. This would be it for her. Choking in front of this room would be the end of her just started career. She caught a glance of a man standing apart from the tables toward the front and off to the side of the stage. It was the man from backstage. She saw him give her a smile and raise his the drink he had in his hand a little bit. That was all she needed, just one familiar face, and there it was. She turned around and signaled the orchestra to start playing.

_Lay your head on my chest so you hear every beat of my heart  
Now there's nothing at all that can keep us apart  
Touch my lips, close your eyes and see with your fingertips  
Things that you do, and you know I'm crazy 'bout you_

_Kisses of fire, burning, burning  
I'm at the point of no returning  
Kisses of fire, sweet devotions  
Caught in a landslide of emotions  
I've had my share of love affairs and they were nothing compared to this  
Oh, I'm riding higher than the sky and there is fire in every kiss  
Kisses of fire  
Kisses of fire_

* * *

After her amazing performance Olivia went out into the main room to try to find Jake and mingle with a few of his buddies. She figured she would try to introduce herself to as many people as she could. As she made her way through the ballroom she was stopped every few feet by guests giving praise to her wonderful performance. She could feel her dreams starting to come true. She realized she could definitely make it in the music business with her talent. Now she just needed the right connections. She scanned around the room once again, looking for Jake.

"Hey sweetheart!" a sharp, loud voice broke her out of her train of thought. She turned around and saw Senator Fitzgerald Grant II approach her. "Wow that was a hell of a performance!" he praised.

"Thank you Senator. I really appreciate that coming from you." Olivia smiled kindly, ignoring the earlier 'sweetheart' as an uncomfortable situation created by a mere generational gap.

"So you're a professional singer?" he asked her further.

"Well not yet, but that's the goal. I only moved here about a month ago, but you have to start chasing your dreams somewhere," Olivia laughed, making small talk with the senator.

"I completely understand. It's pretty difficult to get started in show business."

"Yeah, it's really just the getting off the ground part."

"Well, I might be able to help with some of that," Gerry hinted. Olivia looked at him slightly confused. Gerry reached into his wallet and pulled a wad of hundred dollar bills, laying out the cash in front of her.

"Excuse me?" Olivia asked in shock. She had already been paid in advance by check. She didn't understand, this was far too much to be a tip. "I can't accept this as a tip," she explains.

"It's not. It's for future services," Gerry explained winking.

"For singing at other events…" Olivia let on, although she was thinking that he had some other ideas in mind.

Gerry let out a laugh.

"Not just singing, sweetheart. Trust me, you're going to want to accept my offer. I've seen this story a thousand times; beautiful, young black girl runs away from her family, moves to the big city with no money, no education, just the clothes on her back and a pipe dream. It always ends the same with her either in the streets or dead."

Olivia stumbled back in disbelief of the words that were just spoken to her. Who did this guy think he was speaking to her that way?

"Excuse me!" she raised her voice. "How dare you think you can approach me with your money and your racially prejudice assumptions-"

"Hey is everything that's going on here okay?" the man from backstage rushed toward them after seeing the tension between the two unfold. In all honesty, he had been watching her since she entered the ballroom and watched intently as this interaction before him went poorly.

"Everything is going fine son, now go along and enjoy your party," Big Gerry said, waving his son off.

Olivia laughed in utter disbelief, slapping her palm to her face.

"Of course. Of course you of all people would be Captain Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III," she sighed, palming her hand to her face and trying not to show her eyes that were starting to water at the humiliation that was unraveling before her. And to think there was a moment where she thought about kissing this guy.

Fitz refused to leave though and stood his ground.

"No, now what happened?" he asked more firmly, staring at his father. Big Gerry remained tight-lipped and avoided his gaze.

"What happened?" Fitz asked, looking at Olivia and softening his face and voice for her.

"Nothing, just your father trying to buy me as a prostitute. I should probably go."

"Dad!" Fitz shouted.

"Look, I'm just trying to be the realist here. An unemployed, uneducated girl moves into town with no plan. How else is she going to make a living? I was just offering her some help," Gerry took a sip of his drink.

"Well I was thinking I could always get involved in the stock market, make some investments. Didn't you get rich through the stock market, Governor Grant …or how was it that you ended up making your money…"

"Hey!" Gerry snapped. "I never did anything illegal."

"Maybe not illegal, but definitely wrong," Olivia retorted. "I know all about you and your shady business dealings, Governor Grant. I wrote a term paper about it for one of my classes. It actually ended up getting published. You might be able to find it; it's under my name, Olivia Pope. See, I just graduated Yale with a Political Science degree and a minor in Economics, and I found your financial past to be very interesting."

Gerry's face immediately turned stun, while Fitz let out a breath of amazement seeing this woman stick up to Big Gerry.

"I would love to sit around and talk more. Critiquing your proposed financial plan that you introduced to Congress nine years ago is actually one of my favorite topics. But unfortunately I have to go back to my dead-end life on the streets so…" Olivia pivoted away and marched toward the exit doors of the ballroom. Forget Jake, at this point she needed to put a large amount of physical distance between her and the Grants. She made it out of the ballroom and into the hallway when she heard a voice behind her.

"Ms. Pope? Ms. Pope, wait," she heard the younger Grant calling out after her. He jogged past her and blocked her path.

"I'm so sorry about that my father is kind of-"

"-racist." She interrupted.

"I was going to say old-fashion but…yeah." He rubbed a hand against the back of his neck, feeling awkward and uncomfortable about the situation he was in, apologizing for his father.

"Well, I appreciate your apology Captain Grant, but-"

"Fitz," he corrected her. "I don't- just call me Fitz."

"Fitz," she repeated.

"I know my father is a real piece of work, and I'm sorry about what you had to endure back there."

"That's great, Fitz, but I really should get going."

Fitz stepped in her way again blocking her from making any move.

"But I for one would love to hear you criticize his financial plan and career," Fitz let out a smirk. "Maybe over coffee? Or we could go somewhere else."

Olivia laughed in his face and rubbed her eyes harshly.

"Are you seriously asking me out right now?! After what just happened?! What it's bad enough that your father tries to buy me, now you have to try too!"

"No, no. It's not like that. I'm not him. I'm nothing like him. Miss Pope, I know I have no right after what just happened, but if you give me a chance..." Fitz trailed off, giving her pleading eyes. Olivia glanced in his blues and felt the same intense connection that she had felt with him backstage. She was drawn into him, but she couldn't let herself.

"No," she declared. "I know all about guys like you!" she growled.

"Guys like me?"

"Yeah, guys like you, who are born into privileged families where all it takes is just a phone call and a check to get you into Princeton-"

"Harvard," Fitz corrected, and Olivia rolled her eyes.

"-or Harvard." she continued. "You've probably never had to work a day in your life."

Olivia pointed to his uniform.

"This officer role was also probably handed to you because of who your father is, wasn't it?" Olivia stared into his eyes with a fire that made him burn all over. Fitz was left speechless; he didn't know how to respond to that.

"Hey Liv, there you are!" Fitz and Liv's heads both turned around to see Jake coming out of the ballroom. "I see you've met Fitz. This man here is like an older brother to me." Jake said marching over to them and giving Fitz a pat on the back.

"Yeah," Olivia answered.

"Is everything ok?" Jake asked concerned with the way her demeanor had completely changed from earlier today.

"I just don't feel very good. I think I might be coming down with something. Can we go, Jake? Please?" She lied, hoping to leave and never encounter another Grant again.

"Yeah, of course," Jake placed his hand on the small of her back to lead her out.

"Captain Grant," she dismissed him before turning around, exiting the building with Jake at her side. Fitz just continued to look on.

* * *

*****Summer 2019*****

Raya waited in the night outside the bushes of the resort. This had been their secret spot ever since they were just teenagers, sneaking off to fool around without their parents' knowledge, protected by the darkness. This was where they had their first kiss, this was where he told her he loved her for the first time – and he repeated it every time they met at the bushes thereafter.

Raya saw a figure approaching and had no doubt it was Ezekiel.

"Zeke!" she whisper shouted, getting him to jog closer to her.

"He beautiful!" he praised lifting her up in his arm and spinning her around. With their wedding only a couple of days away, they couldn't have been happier. Raya didn't understand how some people felt wedding jitters right before a wedding. Her and Ezekiel were as happy as ever, she couldn't imagine ever questioning her wedding.

"Zeke, I have to tell you something. I have some exciting news." Zeke nodded at Raya to continue. Raya blushed and worked up a breath to share the amazing news. "I met my dad today!"

"No way!" Zeke shouted a little louder than he probably should have given the late hours, but he had known about the mystery surrounding Raya's father, and the secrets Olivia would never share. "He's here at the resort? Your mom invited him?" Zeke was a little surprised to think that Olivia would go from never speaking of Raya's father to inviting him for their wedding.

"Um no…actually I did…" Raya admitted, holding onto Zeke's shoulder.

"Wait…I thought you didn't know who your father was?"

"I didn't." Raya confirmed for him. "But I know he's one of three guys, so I invited them-"

"Them?" Ezekiel interrupted. "You invited all three of them?"

"Yeah" Raya nodded.

"Raya, why would you do that?" he asked with a tinge of anger. "All that's going to happen is drama and conflict. Why would you want to create that? Especially right before our wedding."

Raya was taken aback by Ezekiel's response. She thought he would be happy for her for acting on her own and making progress on something she had long talked about.

"That's why I did it, Zeke, because it's right before our wedding. All I've ever wanted my entire life was to meet my father. And I finally did today, and don't you think a father should be able to walk his daughter down the aisle and see her get married? I thought you would be happy for me…" Raya pouted. Zeke took in a sigh.

"You're right. I'm sorry, honey. I know this is something that you've always wanted. It's just…strangers at our wedding…"

"They're not strangers, Zeke, one of them is my dad," she pointed out slightly angry at him for getting angry.

"Sorry, I don't want to fight."

"Neither do I," she said, crossing her arms.

"So tell me, how did preparing the table decorations go today?" Zeke said with a smile and sat by a nearby bench, putting his arm out for Raya to join him.

"It was great," she said, sitting down next to him. Zeke wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close into his chest.

"I want to hear all about it," he said as he peppered a light kiss onto her head.

After some time catching up, Zeke wished his fiancé a good night with a passionate kiss before heading out into the night to go home. Raya waltzed back through the resort carefully to make sure no one would see that had gone out this late at night.

As she approached her villa she heard a deep voice approaching her. Through the dark she was just barely able to make out the figure of Fitz walking toward her. He looked distracted, and Raya saw that he was talking on the phone. She hid into some bushed so she would not be seen as Fitz approached, but overheard his conversation.

"Lauren, hey this is Fitz."

Raya got a little closer to get a better look. She noticed Fitz was holding his cell phone to his ear in one hand and clutching a notebook against him in his other hand.

"Listen, I think I'm going to have to stay for a few more days than I thought I would…I know…yes, I know…ha….yeah, well I miss you too." Fitz said as he walked past the bushes.

Raya had so many more questions for Fitz. Who was Lauren? In her research she had done before she knew Fitz was a recent divorcee. His ex was Mellie, his daughter was named Karen, and he had no sisters. Who could Lauren be? Was he seeing someone? What relationship did he have with Lauren? Could he have already gotten remarried this quickly? Raya felt a pit in her stomach thinking about Fitz abandoning her and her mother for Lauren.

* * *

**A/N: So Fitz and Olivia's first meeting seemed to have a bit of a rocky start, but what else can you expect from Olivia and Fitz. Thank you all so much for all the love and support. I'll try to be getting chapter out asap. Who do you think Lauren is? And what do you think was in the notebook? Who do you think Raya's father is?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

*****Summer 2019*****

"Good morning," Olivia aggressively tugged open the blinds to her daughter's room letting all the natural light finish the job of waking her. Raya groaned and turned over, pulling the cover over her head. "Out late last night?" Olivia questioned.

Raya poked her head from out of the comforter and looked at her mom. She had a knowing look that she knew about her night.

"How did you know?"

"Raya, I'm your mom. I've known you've been sneaking out since you were 16. If you want to see Ezekiel you don't have to have these secret missions. He's going to be family in a matter of days and living with us; you don't have to be acting like a bunch of sneaky, horny teenagers anymore."

"Ew, okay mom, I didn't need to hear that," Raya laughed with some disgust.

"What you guys have dated for over 7 years, do you honestly think I'm that naïve?" Olivia laughed alongside Raya and sat on her daughter's bed. She took a moment to relish in the present. She only had a few more days like this, where it would be just her and her daughter, a parent and child, she was growing up so quickly.

"Everything ok, mom?" Raya asked.

"Uh yea," Olivia replied boldly, refusing to allow herself to get emotional at the moment. "Are you busy today? Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure what is it?" Raya sat up tall, leaning her back against the headboard of her bed.

"Could you take Stephen into town this morning? He needs to get bathroom supplies," she explained.

"Of course!" Raya said, much too excitedly. She had a great time paddle boarding with Jake yesterday and was looking forward to getting some one on one time with Stephen. Maybe talking to him could help her figure out who her father was.

"Well, you sound real excited there? I haven't seen you get that excited over running errands for any guest before…" Olivia said, questioningly.

"Yeah, well he seemed like a really nice guy from when I checked him in…" Raya lied.

"You know, I knew Stephen before I came to Zanzibar?" Olivia spoke slyly. She knew her daughter had already known and was the one who orchestrated this whole mess, though she would never admit it.

"Really?" Raya asked playing dumb, "that's cool."

"Yep, and I also knew Jake and Fitz also from back in the day. It's pretty strange that after not hearing from any of them in over twenty years all three of them checked into our resort on the day…"

"Weird," Raya mused, trying not to look at her mom. "I guess it's just a freaky coincidence. Cosmos at work." Raya jumped out of bed to get ready for the day and to get out of this conversation with her mother.

Olivia laughed to herself. Did her daughter honestly think she was so clueless to believe that it was all a coincidence? This would require a conversation for a later point when they both had time. Until then, Olivia got up to start her typical resort task checklist.

* * *

Raya and Stephen walked on the sidewalk through the downtown area of Zanzibar City. Raya observed his every step and every detail, trying to commit him to memory, and see if there was something, anything, some physical feature that could point her in either concluding he was her father or scratching him from the list.

"So my mom said that she knew you before she came to Zanzibar, back when she lived in LA for a short time," Raya said, trying to start up a conversation.

"Ha yeah! She did. She was only there for a single summer. We were roommates." Stephen said.

Oh my god, they were roommates! Raya thought that had to mean something. If they lived together, or at least in the same living quarters, then perhaps, just maybe…

"So, were you and my mom close?" Raya pushed on.

"Yes, I would say we were very close. I was the first person in LA that she met actually. She was only there for a summer, but honestly, in that short time she was there, I can say that she was my best friend for those few months. I like to think that she would say the same about me."

They were best friends. This seemed like it was coming together quite nicely: LA coed roommates who were best friends. It was like something out of a 90s rom-com.

"You guys were best friends…cool," Raya repeated, then hesitantly asked one more question. "Did you guys like each other?" She immediately saw Stephen blush and part his jaw slightly.

"I um…" He stammered, and Raya began to regret her decision.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't what I-"

"No, no, you're fine. We liked each other as friends. Very close friends," Stephen emphasized. "I was like her closest confidant at that time, helping her vent and deal with drama."

* * *

*****Summer 1996*****

"Someone is back from her party early," Stephen hollered from the living room couch, putting his work down. He had gotten involved in a number of research projects at _Billboard_, hoping he could cash in his chips and call in a few favors for Liv when the time came around.

"I'm surprised you're here. I thought you would be spending the night with 'Navy boy,'" Stephen stated blandly, sarcastically saying the nickname he had given the mysterious boy Olivia had been going out with who he still had yet to meet.

"Yeah, well I made Navy boy take me home early," Olivia shot back, she had gone along with Stephen's nickname, not wanting to give him Jake's actual identity. Stephen's crush on her was pretty obvious, and she didn't want to be giving any information about Jake to him.

"Everything alright?" he asked, noticing the shrill in her voice. "Did the singing go well?"

"The singing did, it actually went really well," Olivia sat down on the couch and sighed out of exhaustion and frustration. "I guess I was a little too much of a showgirl for some people. This one older guy…he thought I was a…a hooker." Olivia whispered, still upset over her encounter with the Senator Gerry Grant.

"Well fuck that guy!" Stephen shouted. Olivia laughed at how quick he was to respond. "Seriously Liv, don't pay attention to that guy. You said yourself he was old. He was probably delusional. You probably just reminded him of a flapper he once knew at one of Gatsby's parties back in West Egg."

Olivia cracked up at Stephen's literary allusion.

"Ok, he wasn't that old…" Olivia laughed. "He was just terrible. He made me feel horrible and belittled all because of my race."

"Oh I see…old and a bigot." He put his arm around Liv and wrapped her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Liv. Whatever he said wasn't true. Don't listen to him. You're extraordinary!"

Olivia smiled and Stephen's somber words.

"It gets worse too…" she said, slightly lifting her tone a little more cheerfully.

"Oh no. What happened?"

"After that encounter this guy's son comes up to me and asks me out!" Olivia laughed. "Could you believe that? He sees his dad insulting me and then has the audacity to go up to me and ask me on a date!"

Stephen grunted in frustration, agreeing with Olivia, "This dude sounds like a real jackass."

"I've seen these types of families before when I lived in DC. They're rich, white, and it's not even money that makes them happy, but it's showing off their money that thrills them. They're not the kind of people that go to Gatsby's parties. They are Jay Gatsby."

"Well, as much as I would love to sit here and discuss the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, I should probably confess to you now before we go further, that I skipped reading that book and totally bullshitted my school book report on it."

Olivia laughed at Stephen's cheery change of tone. She got off the couch to go to the kitchen.

"I'm going to go get some wine? Do you want some?"

"Yes please, Liv!" Stephen called after heard. They heard the apartment's landline ring. "I got it!"

Olivia returned about ten seconds later with two wine glasses and a bottle of Pinot in hand.

"It's for you," he said, handing her the phone. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to put all these papers away," Stephen said signaling to the work he had left on the coffee table. He collected his files and raced off to his room.

"Hello? Abby?" Olivia asked. She didn't expect Jake to call, and outside of Abby, he was the only person who knew to call this number for her.

"This isn't Abby," a deep, husky voice that Olivia could recognize anywhere responded. Olivia let out a gasp she had no idea how he could have called her so soon.

"Hi," he said after a moment of silence from the other end.

"…Hi…" Olivia barely whispered. "How did you get this number?"

"Oh, well I'm rich and privileged, remember? Just part of the perks," Fitz spoke sarcastically and laughed, hoping he could lighten the mood, but Olivia was in no laughing mood.

"I'm serious," she said curtly.

"I asked Jake," he said honestly.

"Jake gave you my number? Why would he do that?"

"I may have lied and told Jake that you and my father had a wonderful discussion at the party about politics, and he wanted your number to speak to you again."

"Oh, I'm sure your father would love to speak to me again," Olivia laughed, she heard Fitz chuckle on the other end, bringing a smile to her lips.

"I would for sure love it if you spoke to him again. We're approaching the 21st Century and the man acts like it's the 1890s. What are you doing right now?"

"I'm drinking wine…" Olivia smiled. She caught herself about to have a casual conversation with Fitzgerald Grant III. She needed to stop herself. "Fitz, why are you calling?"

"Look I know when I asked you out back in the hallway, I shouldn't have. That was really poor timing on my part. But I wasn't lying, or trying to make a pass at you, Olivia Pope. I sincerely want to take you out on a date, if you'll have me."

"No," she replied deadpanned, and almost hung up the phone when she quickly heard Fitz respond.

"No?" he asked surprise.

"Yes!" she said.

"So that's a yes then…" Fitz smirked.

"What? No, it's a no. Fitz, stop! You're not being cute. I already told you how I feel about guys like you."

"I know. I heard you loud and clear, but you're wrong. I'm nothing like my father."

"I don't know if I can believe you," she spoke earnestly. She had been hurt one too many times before from rich boys with political daddies back in DC.

"Just go on one date with me, Livvie, just one date," Fitz pleaded. Liv felt a sense of shock over his use of her name "Livvie;" only her mother had ever called her that.

"Wh-what did you say?"

"Just one date. You can't just keep rejecting me. How else can I prove to you that I'm different if you don't even give me a chance?" Fitz was met with silence on the other end, but the humming told him that she was still on.

"Liv, look, I felt something with you backstage, and I know you felt it too. You can't deny that. You felt it too, right?" Fitz's voice got much lower, and softer, and Olivia thought it sounded sad and longing.

"I-I felt it," Olivia assured him. "But even if I felt something, and even if I set aside the entire ordeal that happened with your father today, I'm still dating someone else, not just someone else, but your friend!" Olivia pointed out. She heard Fitz chuckle on the other end.

"I wouldn't say he's my friend. He's more like an annoying little brother. And believe me, I've known Jake for a very long time, and he is not someone who takes relationships very seriously. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for but-"

"No you're wrong. He loves me!" Olivia exclaimed.

"Did he tell you that?" Fitz didn't get a response. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Look, I'm not trying to make you mad. I just want to give you a warning. He's a bit of a player. I've never seen him commit to anything other than the Navy."

"I have to go," Olivia said, seeing Stephen walk into the room.

"Liv, wait-"

"No, I have to go," she hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Stephen asked, pouring himself a glass of wine.

"You're not going to believe this. That was the guy – Gatsby's son – telling me to end things with Navy boy an go out with him," Olivia said exasperatingly.

"Gatsby Jr?" Stephen confirmed, trying to solidify a nickname for this mystery man as well.

"Gatsby Jr." Olivia laughed. Stephen handed Olivia her drink and lifted his own.

"Well, here's to Gatsby and Gatsby Jr. May they one day collect enough wealth to buy themselves a moral backbone!" Stephen laughed as he clinked his drink with Liv's.

* * *

A few days later Olivia laid in Jake's bed as he was preparing for the morning ahead of him.

"Are you getting up?" he asked walking toward her and rubbing her back.

"Yeah, I will. Can I ask you something though?" Olivia was nervous. She had wanted to ask him since her phone call with Fitz.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well we've been going out for a month now," Olivia started, "and I just want to know what we're doing…"

"Well you said it yourself, we're going out," Jake laughed, but quickly went to change the subject. "Now come on, lets go. I was thinking maybe we could go to the beach today."

"You know what I mean. I just want to know where you think this is all going?"

Jake sighed and laid down next to her.

"Liv, do we have to talk about this, now?" Jake knew there was no getting out of this when he saw Olivia nod with a serious look of determination in her eyes.

"Liv, I like you a lot. This has been the happiest month of my life with you!" He spoke honestly. "But you know, I'm in the Navy, and in a few more months I'm going to be away."

"So what does that mean? This is only temporary?"

"It's just fun, Liv. I have fun with you. And you have fun with me. I don't think we should going around labeling anything," Jake put it as politely as he could.

"So you don't want to see m-"

"God no, Liv!" Jake interrupted. "I like being with you, but I just…I just think it's best if it remains casual; just until I'm out of the Navy. I mean long distance is hard, wouldn't you agree?"

Olivia nodded.

"See what I mean," he said, hoping to put the conversation to rest.

"Yeah, yeah I understand what you mean." She put on a fake smile.

"Good!" Jake tapped her nose. "Now, let's go to the beach."

* * *

Later that night, Olivia was relaxing, watching the news in her apartment by herself. Huck, Harrison, and Stephen had all gone out for a boy's night, and she had told them Jake's mom was visiting, so she couldn't stay at his place.

She heard the landline ring and answered, already knowing who was calling.

"Hi."

"Hi," she answered. For the past four days after the party, Fitz had called her every night.

The first night she found it annoying, and thought it was ridiculous how persistent he was being. She was surprised however, when rather than asking her out, Fitz just wanted to talk to her about her senior thesis that she wrote and sassily told him and his father to read. She was impressed that he had actually taken it upon himself to go to the library the next day and track the journal she was published in, reading the entire 70-paged document in a single night. From then on he called her typically to talk about politics, but he also made an effort to make small talk and try to get to know Olivia Pope.

"Are you watching the primary election results?" he asked her.

"What else do you think I would be watching?"

"So, Bob Dole?" Fitz asked, wanting to gauge her opinion, as it was obvious who the Republican nominee was going to be at this point in the primaries for the upcoming 1996 election.

"He won't beat Clinton," she said before he could even finish asking his question.

"You seem very certain on that."

"I am. I can go on all about why."

"Well, then please do, Miss Pope," Fitz gestured for her to continue. He loved hearing her ramble on. Their phone calls were becoming the highlight of his day, a way for him to escape the structured life ahead of him. Olivia waited a little bit before answering Fitz.

"I could tell you all about it right now, but I think it would be better done in person. What are you doing on Friday night?" Liv asked. She heard him let out a breath and clear his throat.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" he sounded completely elated.

"Well if you want to call it a date…"

"Livvie, I-oh man…" Fitz felt jumbled. He didn't know what to say or how to even begin. He thought it was going to take way longer before Olivia agreed to go out with him. He felt over the moon.

"Fitz?" Olivia's voice brought him out of his inner thoughts and back to their conversation. "You didn't answer me."

"Ah-I-uh-Yes! Friday night!" Fitz sounded far too animated for his own liking. He cleared his throat again. "I mean Friday night should work. I'll pick you up at 6."

* * *

*****Summer 2019*****

Gone were the days of cute late night phone calls. Now Olivia could barely talk to Fitz. Nevertheless, Fitz was always persistent. He had gotten her to turn to him once, he hoped he could do it again.

He walked toward the beach of the resort and spotted Olivia sitting with her two friends at the beach bar. Fitz watched from a distance as they drank their mimosas, laughing together. Fitz was in amazement seeing how good Olivia looked in a small green bikini that he was sure he had seen her wear before. She still looked like she could be in her 20s, and that bikini still somehow drove him insane. She looked happy, and relaxed with her friends. He smiled a little sadly. He was glad to see that Olivia was happy here running this resort, but missed her deeply. As selfish as it was, he was upset to see that she was happy without him.

Fitz had been up throughout the night partially from the discomfort of the shed, but mainly because he was thinking about how he would talk to Liv. Where would he even begin? After hours of contemplating, he was still lost. At this point he thought he might as well go up to her and try to strike up a conversation. Yesterday didn't go too well, but it was the first time she had seen him since his big fuck up from 23 years ago. He deserved the tongue-lashing she gave him. He would giver her that. Maybe now that she had a night to process, she would be more open to talking to him, or at least less hostile. Fitz worked up all the courage he had and approached the beach bar.

From the bar, Abby saw Fitz approaching them.

"Oh no."

"What is it?" Quinn asked.

"Liv, it looks like you've got trouble. Fitz is walking over here," Abby explained, turning her head in Fitz's direction.

"Jesus," Liv muttered and turned her head as well. She saw Fitz heading toward the bar equipped with nothing more than the swim trunks he was wearing a beach towel in his hand. What drove Olivia over the edge was how good he still looked. The man was in his 50s now, but his body was still sculpted like a god's: well-defined pecks, chiseled abs, and sharp lower abdominal muscles that formed a "V" pointing right to his- oh no Olivia had to lose those thoughts fast. It was bad enough that Fitz had shown up to her resort, but why must he also still look so good. Olivia put her head down, and sipped her drink, praying that he would walk past them.

"Do you ladies mind if I join you?" he said, sitting down next to Olivia where there was an empty chair.

"Actually yes, I do mind!" The red-head from the other end spoke up angrily, stunning Fitz with how blunt she was.

"Fitz, this is Abby and Quinn. Quinn and Abby, this is Fitz," Olivia introduced them to each other monotonously.

"I know who he is," Abby retorted. Fitz felt a wave of shame wash over him.

"We actually have to go. We have some work to do, right?" Olivia said, looking at Quinn and Abby for back up.

"Right," they both nodded in agreement, and got up out of their chairs.

"Sorry, it's just a real busy time. Peak tourist season and all, and we've got a wedding that's being held here on Friday for…a…uh local girl." Olivia lied to cover her tracks and try and get away from Fitz as quick as she could. She started to turn away when Fitz shot up out of his seat.

"Liv, wait! Please," he turned and lightly touched her arm, making her freeze in place. "Liv, please. I am so sorry. I get that you didn't want to talk to me yesterday, it's been a whiled since everything and…I get it if you're overwhelmed. But can I just talk to you today…whenever you're free. I just really need to talk to you." Fitz was trying to buy some time. He looked down, noticing that their bodies were only inches apart at the moment.

Olivia noticed their closeness too. She felt frenzied. She couldn't think whenever he was this close, and was taking a minute to respond. She missed him, but he ruined her, but more than anything she wanted him to hold her, and wanted to be wrapped up against him until they both forgot everything about the world around them. He could hear her breathe as she contemplated her next move. He suddenly felt soft, delicate hands push against his chest, and felt himself inhale sharply at the contact. Rubbing her hand against his chest, she pushed him back down into his chair.

"There's nothing left to say, Fitz," she said solemnly. There wasn't any anger in her voice like there was yesterday, just sadness and despair. She turned around and started to walk toward Abby and Quinn.

"Olivia, wait!" he called out and shot up out of his seat to follow her again. Once up, Fitz immediately sat back down, realizing her touch had made him hard as a board that all could see if he stood. He needed to sit and take a breather before getting up in his swim trunks. Fitz groaned from the physical effect she was able to put on his body so easily, and also groaned out of the emotional frustration of missing her.

Over the course of the last three years since his failed presidential run, Fitz had learned more about himself and the values and people he held dear. There were a few moments in Fitz's life that he would carry with him forever. Memories and events that he believed change the course of his life. His summer with Olivia was no different.

* * *

*****Summer 1996*****

"Liv, I'm telling you this is a bad idea," Stephen repeated for about the 100th time. "I don't get why you would agree to go out with Gatsby Jr."

"Stephen, it's one date. And if it goes poorly, he agreed he'll stop calling me."

Olivia was finishing putting on the final touches of her makeup in the bathroom mirror.

"I don't know, Liv. You should give me more credit. I mean I was right about Navy boy."

"Who said anything about me no longer being with Navy boy?"

"You haven't mentioned him in three days," Stephen pointed out, "which is a record."

"You keep track?" she teased.

"Yes," he nodded.

"I'm still seeing Navy boy, it's just that our relationship is…well…" Olivia didn't really know how to describe it, "…casual."

She hadn't had much to do with Jake since their conversation, but they also never officially ended anything. She was stuck in a limbo with him. Olivia checked her watch and grabbed her keychain to head out the door.

"Be safe!" she heard Stephen call after her, "Use protection!"

Fitz picked her up right on time as he promised. She saw him across the street waiting for her in a red corvette. As she approached the door, he quickly jumped out of his convertible and ran to the other side to open the car door for her. Olivia took a seat and buckled up as she watched Fitz run back around the car and hop back into his seat.

"You know, going with a red corvette is a bold choice for a guy who's trying not to come off as a snob."

"On the contrary, Olivia Pope, one can still have style without being a snob," Fitz put on a pair of sunglasses completing his cool California look.

They drove for what seemed like nearly an hour. Fitz gave her no details on what the night would entail, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve planned. Their car ride was pretty quiet with Liv just taking in the scenery and enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing through her hair as Fitz drove. Fitz meanwhile was stuck in his own head, a little nervous, but kept peaking glances at his beautiful passenger. Olivia started staring around in awe as the city dissipated from around, being replaced by green hills and a steep incline. Eventually Fitz stopped and put the car in park. Olivia got out of the car and looked up, noticing an incredibly close view of the Hollywood sign.

"Griffith Park," Olivia observed, "charming. Do you take all your dates up here?"

"Olivia Pope, I think you misjudge me. I've been in the Navy for a long while. I haven't had a proper formal date in years."

"You're right I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to come out rude," Olivia shunned herself for being so callous at the very beginning.

"It's really beautiful. But what are we doing up here?" she asked.

Fitz popped open the trunk to his car revealing a couple of blankets, a basket, and some wine.

"Well I hope you're hungry and thirsty, Miss Pope, because we have an entire picnic ahead of us."

Olivia helped Fitz set up the blankets and carry the food. They enjoyed homemade tacos that Fitz had previous prepped all the ingredients for. Olivia started up a conversation with Fitz.

"So Captain, tell me. Now that you're out of the Navy, what do you want to do?"

She rolled over on her back and playfully punched his side. Fitz looked up at the sky and admired the changing colors as the sun set behind them.

"I'll just be following the plan," he stated.

"The plan?" Olivia raised an eyebrow for him to elaborate. Fitz took a deep inhale and began to lay out his life to her.

"I'm going to be doing some legal work to boost up my resume, then in two years run for Congress. I won't really have enough political experience built up to run for the 2002 gubernatorial election, plus it's pretty certain there'll be a blue sweep there, but come 2006 I should be ready to officially start my campaign for governor. If all goes well, I'll get reelected in 2010 and serve two terms as governor. Then I'll take about a year off, getting involved in a number of GOP organizations and becoming a familiar face with all the party to set up campaign, and then by 2016, President."

Fitz spoke his whole plan in a single breath, so flawlessly like he had been asked this many times and had the entire script memorized in his head.

"Um…that's really…specific," Olivia said with intonation in her voice. It kind of spooked her to see how well rehearsed that little monologue of his was.

"Yeah," Fitz scooted uncomfortably on the blanket, "my father has got it pretty much all planned out to the minute." He laughed, and turned to Olivia, hoping she would be smirking too over the ridiculousness of Fitzgerald Thomas Grant II, but he was only met with some silence from her. He shut up instantly and shifted once again uncomfortably.

"That didn't answer my question," Olivia finally spoke a little quietly. Fitz lifted his head and looked at her.

"I asked what you wanted to do, now that you're out of the Navy, not what your plan was."

Fitz hadn't really thought much about what he wanted to do. He lingered on the question for a minute before speaking.

"I mean, I guess all I've really ever wanted to do is change the world, make it into a better place. And if following a career into politics is the best way to make a difference, then I guess following the plan is what's best."

Olivia could have argued with him that there were plenty of other ways to make a difference without going into the soul-sucking field of politics, but she could tell that this was a sore and touchy subject for him. She didn't want to bring the mood down, so instead she asked him to tell her some stories from his Navy days.

* * *

They got into talking about their families. Olivia was already quite familiar with the Grant dynasty, so she told him about her mother and father, and life growing up in Washington DC.

"Wow, so you just got into a fight with your dad, and then left?" he asked in complete bewilderment.

"Yep."

"That's amazing…I couldn't even imagine if I tried that. My dad would freak!"

"Mine did," Olivia laughed, "but at some point you have to distance yourself and take control of your own life you know?"

"Yeah," Fitz agreed, but frowned slightly as he laid against the blanket, contemplating his own life.

"I didn't mean it like that Fitz. I think it's great that you're following into your dad's footsteps. I may not agree with how he is or any of his positions, but if you want to go into politics to make a difference, then following him is a good place to start. I think you'll be much better than he ever was, and accomplish a lot more."

Fitz instantly perked up, hearing her praise. It gave him a confidence boost that he had been lacking since coming home and having to deal with his toxic father.

"You really mean that?"

"Really. I just meant that at some points in life you have to do something different, something a little spontaneous, even if it would be met with disapproval."

"Spontaneous, huh?" Fitz pondered before quickly getting up and packing up the leftovers.

"What's going on?" Olivia question, standing up from the blanket.

"We are being spontaneous, come on," Fitz smirked, as he finished packing up the last of their items. Olivia helped roll the blankets and fit it into the back of the convertible.

"Get in," Fitz ordered, opening the door for Olivia.

"Where are we going?"

"Just another surprise, Livvie," he said, closing the door after her and getting into the driver's seat.

Just a five-minute drive later Fitz drove into the driveway of Griffith Park Observatory. He opened the door for Olivia to get out, and walked with her to the Observatory. At this point it was well into the night, and the observatory had already been closed for several hours. Fitz took her to the back of the building to what appeared to be a service door.

"Fitz what are we doing here? It's closed," she pointed to the obvious signs of the abandoned lot and dark, lifeless windows.

"Ok, so don't judge me, because this is going to sound nerdy, but when I was a kid I was really into space. Like a huge nerd over anything outer space related. And so when I was in high school, and throughout all my summer vacations in college, I had a job working at the planetarium," Fitz blushed in slight embarrassment.

"You got a job working at one of the most impressive planetariums in the world when you were in high school?" Olivia asked in astonishment.

"Perks of being the governor's son. Like you said yourself, 'special privileges.' But I figure why not be spontaneous and take advantage of it. Might as well…" he smiled and reached into his wallet. He pulled out an old employee ID card.

"It's been years, and I have no idea if this will even work, but it's worth a try."

Fitz swiped his old employee ID card along the security system that locked the door. They saw a green light blink and heard the sounds of unlocking. Fitz and Olivia both bit their lips tight, holding in their laughter that this ID card from eight years ago still functioned, and they were about to break into a planetarium. Fitz opened the door and held it for her.

"Come on," he nudged her in the direction of the entryway.

They walked through the empty and dark planetarium taking in the exhibits around them. Olivia tried to stay close to Fitz, but was also busy taking it all in.

"Over here!" Olivia jumped hearing Fitz whisper rather loudly. She followed him through some doors into what was the main theater of the planetarium. Fitz had her stand in the center of the room and walked to the back where the control panel was located.

"Ok, now I warn you. It's been a while since I've done this so I might be a little rusty."

Fitz fiddled around with the switches and levers, making Olivia's heart race that they would get caught. Eventually he figured it out and Olivia stared up in awe as the black dome above her transformed into a terrific night sky.

"This is amazing," she mused. Fitz smiled to himself, watching her gleefully stare up at the images he had managed to project.

"Hang on, it's not quite done," Fitz fiddled around searching for another lever. He finally found it and pulled down.

A meteor shower rained over the image of the night sky, looking like a thousand shooting stars. Fitz waltzed over and joined Olivia in the center of the room, staring up at the projection above them.

"This is beautiful!" Olivia spoke in wonder once again, staring up at the dome.

"Sure is…" Fitz said, secretly staring at her.

"So, how did I do?" Fitz finally asked.

"You did alright."

"Just alright?" Fitz scoffed. He wasn't prepared when a pair of plush lips came crashing down on him. He held her tight, wrapping one arm around her back and the other through her hair. He let her take control of the kiss, enjoying feeling her tongue explore his mouth.

Eventually, he pulled out of her kiss. She looked at him with some shock and worry.

"Oh right sorry, I almost forgot about the whole reason why we're here," Fitz lingered.

Olivia looked at him confused.

"Your thoughts on Bob Dole?" Fitz said sarcastically. Olivia playfully tapped his chest in response.

"Just shut up and kiss me!" And they kissed beneath a thousand shooting stars.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

*****Summer 2019*****

Raya finished spending her morning shopping with Stephen. She had a lot of fun with him. What started as a plan to pick up toothpaste and soap turned into an all out shopping spree at a record store. Raya and Stephen discussed their favorite types of music. She was surprised to learn he was a fan of 1970s rock bands, quite like herself. He allowed her to introduce him to some newer artists like her favorite: Lizzo. Raya learned about Stephen's career as a music journalist, and he told her stories of crazy interviews he conducted with rock stars and their managers. After a while they both got hungry and decided to get lunch together before going back to the resort.

Once at the resort, Stephen went back to his cottage to put his items away. Raya went to the beach to find something to do. She saw Fitz sitting alone at the beach bar, and decided to walk over.

"Pina colada please," she told the bartender. "How's it going, Fitz?"

Fitz looked up and smiled at Olivia's daughter, she was truly the spitting image of her mother.

"I'm doing well," he said, taking a swig of his drink.

"Scotch is an interesting choice for the beach at only 1 o'clock in the afternoon," she observed. Fitz just simply shrugged.

"Just trying to find some way to kill the time, I suppose."

Raya's head perked up hearing Fitz had a lot of time to kill. Yesterday may not have worked out when she asked him to paddleboard with her and Jake, but maybe now that he didn't have too much going on, she could spend time with him.

"Hey, have you ever gone snorkeling?" She asked eagerly.

Fitz put down his drink and shook his head no.

"Well, do you want to? There's a shed that has rental equipment for masks and fins. It's really fun, and there's a shallow reef that's not too far from the beach that has some amazing views! My fiancé Ezekiel and I found it. It's a short swimming dist-"

"Your fiancé? You're engaged?" Fitz asked, interrupting her. Liv's daughter was getting married? He wondered if that was the wedding that Olivia was referring to earlier as some local girl.

"Uh yeah…soon to be married…" Raya quickly skipped over Fitz's and left the details to be vague. She didn't want it somehow getting out that his invitation to the resort was actuality an invite to her wedding. "Anyway it's a short swimming distance away, if you're looking for some time to kill."

Fitz put down his drink. He didn't really have that much going on. Any plans he could have made with Olivia were gone. And maybe if he spent some time with her daughter, he could get some information on how Liv has been doing. Ultimately that was what he cared about most. He just wanted to make sure she was okay and happy and he foolishly broke her heart all those years ago.

"Sure, I'm in."

Fitz gave Raya his card to use for the equipment. She went to the shed to the pick up the gear, while Fitz waited. Still sitting at the bar, Fitz noticed Jake from a distance setting up his beach towel on a lounge chair. He decided to walk over and greet him.

"Hey, man."

"Hey, Fitz. How was your night?" Jake asked sincerely.

"It was fine," he lied not wanting to go into the details of his poor night's sleep with Jake.

"Cool, man. Aw hey, I just realized I left my sunglasses in my room. Do you mind just standing here and watching my stuff?"

"Of course, man. It's no problem."

Fitz watched Jake walk away to get his sunglasses. He suddenly got a great idea to pull a prank on that smug bastard. Jake was like an annoying little brother to Fitz, and while Jake may have viewed their relationship as cute and brotherly, Fitz didn't reciprocate. After Jake's cockiness during their time serving together, not to mention how he treated Olivia during their time together, the man had a way of getting on Fitz's nerves. Returning to his idea for some revenge, Fitz quickly sprinted toward the bar again and approached the bartender.

"Hey, do you happen to have any moisturizer or lotion I could use?"

The bartender looked at him extremely confused on the random question.

"Please," he pushed.

"I have a bottle of hand lotion in my bag," she responded.

"Great!" Fitz exclaimed. "Can I take the whole bottle and an empty glass, and you can charge twenty dollars to my tab."

"Twenty?" The bartender was confused.

"Just do however much you need," Fitz begged. The bartender opened her bag and pulled out a hefty bottle of hand lotion she kept with her and an empty glass. With her time as a bar tender at a holiday resort, she had encountered many strange requests, but this one was near the top. Fitz took the supplies and sprinted back to Jake's spot.

He took Jake's sunscreen bottle and twisted opened the cap, pouring out all of the cream into the glass. Fitz then opened the hand lotion, pouring the moisturizer into and replacing what had previously been sunscreen. Fitz twisted the cap shut again, and searched around for a place to hide his evidence of the crime. He saw a table some distance away and sprinted, placing down the glass full of sunscreen and the empty hand lotion bottle down. He then returned to Jake's spot, laughing and admiring his work of the sunscreen bottle that was really just full of lotion.

He knew it was ridiculous and childish of him to be pulling a prank this low, but then again so was Jake. He saw Raya approach him with masks and fins in her hands.

"Hey are you ready?"

"Yep, almost. I just have to wait for Jake to get back. I said I would watch his stuff." Almost as if on cue, Jake came running back to the beach with his sunglasses in hand.

Jake walked over to the two.

"Hey Raya, how are you doing?"

"Pretty good, Fitz and I were going to go snorkeling."

"Sounds like fun. Let me know when you guys get back. I need to get my tan on." Jake said, putting on his sunglasses. Fitz rolled his eyes, god he could act like such a douche sometimes.

"Yep, well we better go," Fitz said wanting to get out of there asap.

"Right, have fun, you two. And Fitz, thanks for watching my stuff," Jake replied.

"It's no problem. Have fun tanning…and hey, remember to put on sunscreen, it's going to be a hot one." Fitz spoke smugly, inwardly snickering to himself.

"Of course, thanks man," Jake responded, picking up the sunscreen bottle.

Fitz chuckled to himself as he and Raya walked toward the ocean.

* * *

Fitz and Raya spent the next 45 minutes snorkeling near the reef she had mentioned. It was a terrific day. The bright sun illuminated the water, making all the colors of the reef pop through the crystal clear water. They had gotten close to a colorful school of parrotfish and even saw a small turtles swimming out of the reef when they got close. Fitz was amazed at how beautiful the ocean could be. The beaches he had gone to in California were nowhere near as fresh and as pure as this. He made a note to himself to look into some marine conservation projects in the area when he got home.

Fitz and Raya swam back to shore, laughing and making small talk, and laid along the lounge chairs close to the sand's edge. After a little while of small talk about the amazing reef, Fitz cleared his throat, wanting to get more personal.

"So Raya, uh how is your mother?" he finally worked up the nerve to ask.

"She's good," she said, but also wanted to get more information out of Fitz about his relationship with her mother, "she said that you two knew each other a long time ago."

"She did?!" Fitz's head sprang up from the chair. He was surprised to hear that Olivia had spoken about him. He thought she had completely shut him out.

"Does she- or has she – I mean…does she talk about me?" he asked nervously.

"Um, not much, she just said that you two knew each other from the summer she spent in LA, but she doesn't talk much about that time," Raya answered, thinking it would be best to be honest and see if Fitz could give her some more information about that summer.

"I see," Fitz swallowed, his voice taking a heavy, sadder tone. "And your mom, has she…is she married?"

Fitz heard his voice crack when asking the question and could feel his palms get clammy while he waited only a mere two seconds for Raya to respond.

"No, my mom has never been married. Honestly, she's never even really seriously dated anyone for as long as I can remember."

"Anyone?"

"For as long as I can remember it's always just been me and my mom."

"Oh," Fitz replied. After a few moments a question sprang up on him. "Raya, how old are you?"

"I turned 22 a couple of months ago, why?"

Fitz quickly did the math in his head and felt his chest tighten. He stared at Raya with staggered, heavy breathing.

"Just…wondering…" he finally breathed out. Fitz closed his eyes. Fitz wondered if this was why Olivia had left, and why she had gone so off the grid. Could Raya be a product of the love they once shared?

* * *

*****Summer 1996*****

After their first date, Olivia had been seeing Fitz almost everyday for the last six weeks. She began seeing Jake far less frequently, only going to his place on the days that Fitz was busy and couldn't meet for a date. Her and Fitz hadn't officially become "exclusive," the two hadn't even gotten intimate yet after six weeks of dating. Fitz told her he wanted to wait until the moment was right. He didn't just want to have sex with her; he wanted to make love. Her visits to Jake though were becoming rarer and rarer, and ultimately less satisfying than when they had started.

Olivia sat in the living room, and looked at her watch. In a few minutes she would have to start getting ready for her date tonight with Fitz. He had promised to take her to this arcade bar they drove past one night, and she was looking forward to seeing him since he was busy yesterday.

"OH LIIIIVVVV!" Stephen charged into the room with a sing-songy voice.

"Stephen?"

"Do I have something exciting with you to share…" he gleamed, teasing Liv and waiting.

"Proceed."

"Well first let me ask you this, who is the best roommate in the world?"

"Come on now," Olivia sighed sarcastically, "you can't make me go against my best friend, Abby."

Stephen paused. Olivia had told him all about Abby. Though he had yet to meet her, she seemed really nice and cool, and any friend of Liv's would be a friend of his. He knew the two had a connection equivalent to sisters, so he decided to back off and give Liv that one.

"Ok fine," he said and corrected himself, "who is the best roommate in this apartment?"

"That would be Huck," she teased.

Stephen gave her a blank face and shook his head side to side.

"Such a shame. I was going to tell you the good news that I got _Billboard_ to agree to do a cover on you, but now that you've hurt my feelings…"

"Stephen shut up!" Olivia screamed, jumping off the couch. "_Billboard_ wants to do a story on me?!"

Olivia was in complete disbelief. She felt tears coming over the edges of her eyes. She jumped off the couch and ran to Stephen embracing him in a hug with such force he thought he was about to take a tumble. After minutes of crying into his shoulder Olivia looked up.

"Stephen, thank you! Thank you! I don't even know how I can ever repay you-"

Stephen unwrapped Olivia arms from around him and put them down at her sides. He did not want to start getting his hopes up. As the weeks went on, he was beginning to realize and accept that their relationship would remain platonic.

"It's my pleasure, Liv. I just want to see you succeed."

He gave her a bright smile.

"I'm sorry Stephen, but I have to go start getting ready."

"Hot date with Gatsby Jr?" he asked.

"Yeah."

In the car Olivia told Fitz that she had exciting news to share, but made him wait until they were seated at the bar to share it.

"Okay, you've got me now. I'm dying to know. What is it Livvie?" He was growing frustrated with Liv's waiting game.

"Guess who is going to featured as an upcoming artist to watch in a future issue of _Billboard _magazine?"

"No way!" Fitz sprang out of his seat and lifted Olivia up onto his hips, twirling her.

"Livvie, I am so proud of you!" He shouted, kissing her. He deepened the kiss, and Olivia welcomed his very public display of affection. Soon the two were making out with Olivia remaining wrapped around him.

"Mmmm my girlfriend….the famous….superstar…." he moaned whenever he could get a breath of air in. Olivia stopped and broke out of their kiss.

"Did you say 'girlfriend?'"

"Is that a problem?" Fitz got extremely worried. He was aware that she was still seeing Jake occasionally. He had heard from the grapevine of the other guys he knew in the Navy. But things were turning serious between he and Liv, and he really wanted to make things official now that he was out of the Navy and could start settling down with a real life ahead of him.

"No, it's not a problem. It's just I didn't know that we…I mean we haven't…" Olivia was trying to find the proper way to express the frustration she was having of waiting for him.

"I wasn't quite sure what we were," she settled for that phrase, and looked at Fitz for an answer and sat back down.

Fitz let out a breath.

"I know I haven't really been the most clear when it comes to our relationship," Fitz sat down in the booth next to Olivia. "But Olivia Pope, I want you."

He leaned in and kissed her again.

"Livvie, I want you more than I want anything in the world."

Olivia didn't know how to respond to this man who had just put his heart on the line. She had tears glistening in her eyes. She wanted him more than anything also. She had never wanted anything so much than to love him and be loved by him. But with her tricky relationship with Jake, and her encounter with "other" Grant men, she was worried to seriously start a relationship.

"Fitz…" she said.

"What are you doing this weekend?" he asked before she could compose another thought.

"What?"

"What are you doing this weekend? You've just gotten the opportunity of a lifetime, and I think we need to celebrate, don't you?"

She nodded.

"My family has a house up in Santa Barbara, right on the water. I was thinking maybe we could have a little weekend vacation there to celebrate. Just the two of us…" he spoke seductively, filling Liv with want and craving.

"Okay. I'll clear my weekend."

She reached up and ran her hand through the curls on the side of his scalp. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled him in to kiss her, eagerly awaiting the full Fitzgerald Thomas Grant experience.

* * *

They drove along the coast in Fitz's corvette. Olivia was feeling butterflies in her stomach like she was in high school again reliving her first time. She was ready for a weekend that she would never forget.

As they got closer to the house she reached across to Fitz, resting her hand on his thigh. He looked down at her hand as it traced up and down his inner thigh, her nails lightly scratching the fabric along his skin.

"Livvie," he moaned, "just a few more minutes, then I'm all yours."

They pulled into the driveway of the house, although house probably wasn't the best word to describe it. Olivia looked in astonishment at the mansion.

"You call this your house?"

Fitz got out of the car and ran around to open her door for her.

"I can give you a tour right now, if you'd like," he winked, knowing full well that a tour was not on the top of their to-do list.

"Maybe later," she rubbed her hand up and down his chest, feeling herself already getting turned on from just feeling his muscles. He bent down to kiss her, and she graciously accepted letting her mouth welcome his tongue.

Before even getting their bags out of the car, they made their way up the steps into the house, never breaking their kiss like a couple of young teenagers discovering passion for the first time. They reached the front door and Fitz finally had to let go of Olivia's lips to look for his keys.

"Hurry up," she hissed.

"Hang on, hang on," he hissed back and pulled out his keys He twisted it into the door, hearing it unlock. He looked at Liv and smiled and she smiled right back.

No more than a second later she pounced onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist as Fitz shuffled into the house, kissing her for dear life. Fitz knew she was eager and would have to act quickly, Olivia was already grinding her hips against him as he brought her into the kitchen. He could feel his dick starting to strain against his jeans. He placed her down on top of the kitchen counter. He had never felt so sure of wanting to be with someone than the woman with him right now.

Olivia raised her arms allowing Fitz to take off her shirt. She took his hand and guided it to her breast, massaging it with one hand, while his other hand traced up and down Olivia's spine. Olivia's hands rushed through his hair encouraging him to go further. He moved his lip down her neck onto her collarbone, simultaneously unclasping her bra from behind and letting her breasts free. She threw her head back in pleasure.

"Please," she moaned.

Fitz didn't need her to specify. He gladly kissed lower and lower until his mouth was on her chest between them. He placed kisses on her sensitive nipples, alternating between the two as his hand lowered past her hips and into her panties.

"Fitz, oh god," she felt his fingers going in and out of her core. His rhythm was steady, while his thumb made circular motions against her nub, driving her wild.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait," Fitz immediately halted; afraid that he had done something wrong that they were moving at a pace she was not comfortable with.

"Are you ok?"

Olivia hopped off onto the floor.

"Not on the kitchen counter," she pressed her body to him again and they continued as they were, but standing. Fitz continued his motions with his hand, making Olivia melt while she shimmied out of her underwear.

She knew she was close, she felt a fire burning low in her stomach. He was bringing her over like no one had ever done before.

"Mmmm Fitz, I'm so close…ohhh!"

She slipped her hands under Fitz's shirt where he purposely flexed his muscles under her touch. The feeling of his muscles along with his hands and mouth on her brought her over the edge.

She let out a gasp, shuddering as her juices flowed onto Fitz's hand, making him groan with fresh desire. She was beyond pleased by her orgasm, but pouted slightly.

"What's wrong?" Fitz ask, taking his head up from her chest and taking hold of her lip. She leaned back.

"You're still fully clothed."

Fitz looked down and let out a chuckle realizing that he hadn't taken anything off yet.

"That can be fixed," he smirked, and grabbed the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head. "Better?"

"Much," Olivia responded. He let out a soft groan as she stopped in front of him and grazed her hands over his abdomen down to his zipper. She undid his pants and roughly pulled his jeans and boxer brief to the floor; they pooled around his ankles. He carefully stepped out the mess of clothes and grabbed Olivia firmly by her butt, kissing her with their two bodies now solely pressed against each other, skin to skin.

Olivia felt Fitz's erection poking against her, causing her to look down. He was impressive to say the least. She lowered one hand down, grabbing the shaft, rubbing him up and down.

"Livvie!" He cried out, throwing his head back and closing his eyes. She used this moment of his distracted to get down onto her knees.

She pressed her thumb against the tip, while her other hand cradled his warm sac. She rolled his balls in her hands making his hip involuntarily buck forward when she kept cradling and used her thumb to tickle the underside. Beads of precum began shining deliciously. She had found his on-switch.

She used her tongue to lick them away and drew a cold breath over all areas her tongue had been, sending a chill down Fitz's spine that made his shaft begin to pulse. He could feel himself starting to lose control, and knew he would explode soon if she didn't stop.

"Livvie," he moaned, "need to be in you." He struggled to get the bare minimum of words out.

"I haven't even sucked you yet," she said seductively. She used her tongue to lick the underside. She felt his sac tighten in her hand, and she squeezed encouragingly.

"Mmmmmm. No. Can't. Need you," he groaned, practically shaking. Olivia could tell it was taking all his willpower not to cum right there.

"Oh god," Fitz sighed when she released. His knees buckled, bringing him to the floor next to Liv, deeply panting. He looked up at her with a hunger in his eyes.

"Better?" she mimicked smiling at him. Fitz shook his head and leaned over her, capturing her top lip in his mouth. Fitz placed his hand on either side of Olivia and lined himself against her entryway, starting by teasing her nub with his shaft. Olivia gave out a low whimper at the tease, wanting him in full.

Fitz dove himself into her gently, and began thrusting, picking up his rhythm faster and faster each time. She felt so good, and so warm. He opened his eyes that had closed from the tremendous feeling and saw a look of wonder on Olivia's face. He felt perfect inside of her. The sensation drove her wild. He knew he has hit the right spot as she began to let out loud pleasurable gasps with each thrust of his hips.

"Keep going," she ordered and Fitz followed. With one last thrust, he saw her jaw drop and felt her walls pulse and roll around him. Her orgasm finished him and he spilled his seed deep within her.

They remained connected until they both came down from their high and regulated their breathing. Fitz turned over and went down next to her, their perspiration all over each other.

"So the kitchen floor?" Olivia laughed.

"I at least thought we would have made it to the couch," Fitz replied.

"Should we relocate?" Olivia asked.

"Can't," Fitz whined, draping an arm over Olivia and burying his face into her neck, "too tired to move." She had managed to take the life out of him with his orgasm.

"I love you, Livvie," He mumbled. He kissed her down the side of her neck, as he felt himself drift off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N:** **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There's still more to come, and a lot more flashbacks to tell the whole story. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

*****Summer 2019*****

"Raya, hey!" Raya looked up from her spot on the beach with Fitz and saw Ezekiel running toward her.

"Zeke! Come here," she gestured, and he sprinted over to where they are sitting. Raya felt bad over how her conversation with Zeke ended last night. She knew that she should have told him about her plan before springing this on him. It is after all _their_ wedding, not just _hers_. She hoped that introducing her father candidates to Zeke could make amends and maybe he would end up wanting them to attend their wedding. Meanwhile Zeke felt bad for overreacting as well. He knew he could have handled their conversation from yesterday in a far better manner and showed up to finally have a conversation. The last thing he wanted was to carry baggage of any kind with him to the wedding.

"Raya, hey, can I talk to you. I wanted to tell you that I understand what you were thinking by invi-"

"Zeke!" Raya quickly interrupted him midsentence. "Have you met Fitz yet? He's a friend of my mom's." Raya gave him a stare that conveyed everything he needed to know about who Fitz was. Zeke instantly stopped what he was saying.

"No, I haven't. It's nice to meet you, Fitz." He reached out and shook the man's hand. Zeke felt twitchy inside, he was not nearly as mischievous as Raya, and had never been good at acting like she had.

"Fitz, this is my fiancé, Ezekiel." Raya introduced her fiancé to one of the men who could potentially be the one to walk her down the aisle.

He wondered again for a minute if the wedding for a local girl that Olivia was talking about earlier was actually for her daughter; the man and women standing right there in front of him. A part of his heart broke thinking that had he not pushed Olivia to let him stay, he could have missed his daughter's -or maybe, possibly his daughter's- wedding.

"How long have you been engaged?"

"Since Valentine's Day!" Raya spoke excitedly. "He took me on a surprise vacation to the Tanzanian mainland, and we stayed at a safari lodge. Oh why don't you tell it, you're so much better at it!" Raya playfully patted her fiancé on the chest, and he aptly took over the story for her.

"We were staying at lodge…" Zeke began. Fitz tried to pay attention; he was genuinely interested in hearing how their engagement came to be. He wanted to hear and learn everything about them: how they met, how the wedding planning had been, what their future plans were. Fitz tried to stay focused on the story but the topic of engagement made his mind wander off.

* * *

*****Summer 1996*****

After Fitz dropped Olivia back at her home, he made his way downtown where he had promised his parents he'd attend a Sunday night dinner with them. He hadn't seen them since his welcome home party, and he figured he owed them that much. Going into the restaurant he saw his mom and dad already seated with extra chairs around the table.

"Who else is coming," he looked at the curiously, while taking a seat for himself.

"We invited the Doyle's and their lovely daughter too," Fitz's mother spoke up.

"You remember Mellie, right?" Big Gerry asked. Fitz simply nodded. "She just graduated from law school at Harvard, so we thought we'd invite all of them out to celebrate."

Shortly after Gerry's answer, the Doyle's joined the Grants for their elegant dinner.

Hollis Doyle and Big Gerry had been friends for decades. Having met back in their Wall Street days, the two followed a very similar path, both getting married at roughly the same time and having kids -Big Gerry, a son; and Hollis, a daughter – at roughly the same time. They parted ways professionally when Big Gerry went on to pursue politics and Hollis became a key player in the oil industry.

Fitz couldn't help but notice the probing that his father and Mellie's father were doing to force the two to talk to each other. Every single conversation point seemed to transform into complimenting Mellie, and praising Mellie, discussing how brilliant and great she was. Fitz didn't doubt she was brilliant, but he was annoyed with all of this talk about Mellie. Fitz noticed Hollis give his daughter a nudge on the elbow, and she began speaking.

"So Fitz, how are you finding life out of the Army?"

"It was the Navy. And it's good," Fitz spoke rather bleakly, taking a sip of his scotch.

"Oh right, yes, the Navy. I knew that," Mellie inwardly cringed.

"Oh it doesn't matter!" Gerry came in to ease the tension with a hearty laugh, "All military branches are basically the same, they've all got the same agenda."

"You know this from your own military experience?" Fitz shot his dad a challenging look, insulted by his father's comment when he had no idea what the Navy was like.

The military was always a sore subject between Fitz and Big Gerry. He was honored to serve, but he never really wanted to go into the armed forced. It was part of the plan though to breed him as President. Everything always came back to the plan with Big Gerry. And so it was because of the plan that Fitz spent the five years scared shitless flying dangerous missions on the regular, while his father the senator, always a war hawk, promoted aggressive military action in Congress to ensure Fitz would be seen as a war hero when he came out.

"We'll talk about this later, son," Gerry grunted, cutting into his steak. As though the dinner couldn't have gotten anymore uncomfortable, Mellie decided to use this opportunity to change the subject casually and cheerfully.

"So Fitz, how was your weekend?"

"It was good." He was just trying to make it through this dinner at this point.

"Did you do anything special?" she continued.

"Actually yeah, I spent the weekend in Santa Barbara with my girlfriend."

A loud clank echoed across the room when Hollis Doyle dropped his fork and knife onto his plate and Fitz's mention of the word "girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" he raised an eyebrow at Big Gerry. Big Gerry's eyes darted at his son's.

"Girlfriend?" Big Gerry mimicked Hollis.

"Yeah, I just started dating this really amazing girl: beautiful, smart, and wickedly talented," Fitz mused and looked at his mother, "You would love her, ma."

"You know, I just remembered I have a conference call in an hour. We better get the check and get going." Hollis lied, unimpressed by the way dinner turned out. The Doyle's paid for their meals and rushed out the door.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking!" Big Gerry yelled, now back at his home.

"I was just answering the question. Mellie asked what I did over the weekend." Fitz calmly answered as though he didn't do anything wrong, and he didn't.

"You don't bring up having a girlfriend when Mellie is right there!" he yelled.

"Why not?"

"Fitzgerald, I cannot believe you can even be my son given how big of an idiot you can be at times! You know what you're suppose to be doing at this time in your life!"

"Gaining legal experience and run for congress," Fitz recited the next steps that had been ingrained in his mind.

"Yes! And settling down and starting a family."

Fitz stopped and stared at his dad for a second. Big Gerry took in a deep breath, trying to keep his blood pressure from rising too high.

"Son, people are going to vote for a family man, they do not want a bachelor."

"Well then it's good that things are getting serious with me and my girlfriend then, isn't it?" Fitz shot back at his father, tired of this game.

"And who is this girlfriend?"

"Olivia Pope, you remember her from my welcome home party?" Fitz had never seen his dad's face turn so red before in his life.

"Olivia Pope! Olivia Pope!" Gerry huffed, pacing. "And what are you going to tell her when you get an engaged to Mellie?"

"I-what? I'm not getting engaged to Mellie. I barely know her!"

"What do you mean? You've known her for years!"

"No, you've known her father for years. I barely know Mellie, and frankly from some of the things I heard at this dinner, I don't really want to."

"Watch your mouth son!" Big Gerry snapped. "I've looked at the numbers, if you want to have a shot at winning your congressional election, or hell any election, you're going to need some Mayflower blue blood."

Big Gerry marched to a drawer in the living room and angrily pulled a box out.

"You see this?" He held out a ring box. "This belonged to my grandmother, her father gave it to her at her debutant ball, bought it at auction. It's been passed down generation to generation. And you, Fitzgerald, are going to use this ring to propose to Mellie Grant come hell or high water! So if you don't like her, I suggest you learn to start liking her, because you have an entire life with her ahead of you!"

He slammed the ring box onto the counter and took a marker writing "for Mellie" clearly on the box.

"Whatever you have with Olivia Pope, end it now!" he shouted and marched upstairs.

Fitz looked at his mother with pleading eyes almost on the verge of crying.

"Mom?"

She came over next to Fitz and rubbed his shoulders.

"I'm sorry honey. You know how you're father can be. But you know he has always had your best interest at heart. He just wants you to succeed."

"I know," he swallowed. "I've let him control every aspect of my life though, and just this once I – mom, I love her. Will you talk to him, please?" Fitz's voice croaked.

"I'll see what I can do," she reassured Fitz, squeezing his shoulders and heading upstairs.

* * *

*****Summer 2019*****

Once Zeke finished explaining the story of his proposal Fitz quickly excused himself.

"Well that was weird," Zeke observed, watching Fitz walk away.

"Yeah, Fitz is a weird one, a little quiet, but it also seems like he was the most serious with my mom, so I don't know if inviting him here was good for him."

Raya was brought out of her thoughts over Fitz when she saw Stephen walking toward them.

"Oh you have to meet Stephen! He's a really cool and chill guy." Raya grabbed Zeke's hand and rushed over toward where Stephen was setting up his sunbathing spot. They saw two lounge chairs next to him.

"Hey Stephen, mind if we join you?"

"Not at all, take a seat," he gestured for them both to take a seat.

"Stephen, this is my fiancé Zeke. Zeke this is my mom's friend, Stephen."

"Fiancé, you don't say?" Stephen looked up and pushed his sunglasses to the bulb of his nose "Well congratulations to you two lovebirds!"

"Thank you. Yeah, Raya and I have been dating for about six years now," he said taking her hand.

Stephen smiled to himself and let out a little bit of a chuckle.

"Ah, it's so nice to see couples young and in love."

"Hey, don't give up Stephen!" Zeke playfully quipped. "She's out there somewhere."

Stephen turned to Raya, "actually, if you wouldn't mind, I was wondering if you could give me the lowdown on that foxy redheaded friend of your mom's."

"You mean Aunt Abby?" Raya was shocked. She didn't expect Abby to really be his type, "I didn't think you were into redheads."

"I didn't know either…but I mean I won't do anything if…well is she single?"

Raya laughed watching Stephen get so flustered.

"She's single. She divorced her husband Leo a few years ago, and has come to visit my mom at the resort a lot more since."

Stephen nodded, "good, good...I mean not good about the divorce but uh-"

"It's okay, Stephen," Raya laughed and raised her eyebrow, "but I do have to ask, given what you told me earlier about you and my mom's history, would she be alright if you went after her best friend?"

"You Pope women, always thinking through the details of every plan," Stephen grinned followed by a melancholy sigh. "The truth is, while I was very fond of your mother, she never really thought that way of me. We were just very close friends, but I think I may have eventually pushed her with my crush on her…and eventually drove her away."

* * *

*****Summer 1996*****

"Liv! That was absolutely brilliant!" Stephen applauded from the side as he watched Olivia complete her interview with Billboard. She ran up to Stephen, giving his a hug that made his heart soar within his chest.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you Stephen! When can I expect the article to be out?"

"Should be for next month's issue, but I'll keep you updated," he replied. His chips that he cashed in worked, and now Olivia was going to be featured in _Billboard_.

"How can I repay you?"

The smile on her face was enough for Stephen. He loved seeing her happy, though he knew he shouldn't, he knew she was taken and that she didn't like him in that way, but still for whatever reason he continued to hope that maybe she would change her mind and turn to him. So he continues his longing, and said-

"Seeing you this happy is enough payment for me?" He cheekily grinned at her.

"I have to do something," Liv insisted. "Ok, maybe some burgers then?"

"Burgers will do."

They went to eat, making small talk along the way until their food arrived.

"Stephen, you know, I am convinced you're my guardian angel," Liv laughed, taking a mouthful of burger.

"Aw come on, you're just trying to make me blush now…" he laughed.

"No, I'm serious. You gave me a place to stay, you helped me get assimilated to LA life, you get me my first interview in the press, how are you not an angel."

"Liv, if anyone here is an angel, we all know it's you…" he blushed.

"Why are you so good to me?" she giggled.

Did she really not have any idea, Stephen thought.

"Most guys would never do something like this…" Liv continued.

Stephen looked at her, shocked that she still didn't really get it.

"Well, I'm not like most guys," he began. He glanced up at her and locked eyes, he knew this would be his time to say something. "Um Liv, I think I need to come clean about something…"

"What is it?"

This was it. He just had to put his heart out on the line and trudge through it. Forget about Navy boy or Gatsby Jr. He was different than them, better than them. Hetried to pump himself up, thinking positive thoughts.

"Liv, I- I like you a lot."

"I like you too Stephen…"

"No not like that…I-I'm just going to put my heart on the line here I guess," Stephen mumbled. "I like you, Olivia. I have been attracted to you from the moment I saw you on that plane. And I know you're going out with some other fellows at the moment, but…" Stephen paused for a minute and shifted.

"…I don't know. I just I needed you to hear it. I just needed you to know. I couldn't handle keeping it in much longer." Stephen's voice went raw with emotion.

"Stephen…" Liv gasped. "I don't know what to say…"

Liv recognized that he had a crush on her, but she thought that with her dates with Jake and Fitz that Stephen would eventually move on. She thought she had made it clear that the two of them were friends. And now here he was, her best friend in LA, pouring his heart in front of her, wanting her to respond in a way that wouldn't be true to her self.

"You have no idea what our friendship means to me-" she started.

"Come on, don't do that. Don't…" Stephen's voice was plagued with sadness.

"I'm sorry if you misinterpreted some things. It was probably my fault."

"No. No. It's fine," Stephen got up from the booth. "It's really probably my bad. Sorry that I misinterpreted our friendship," Stephen said bitterly, and he left out the door.

Olivia remained seated at the booth in shock, cradling her head in her hands. She loved Stephen like a brother, and it killed her to know that she had hurt him like this. Olivia took a few moments to herself thinking. She couldn't have lied to Stephen and pretended. The truth was she didn't love Stephen…she loved Fitz.

Olivia sprang her head from her hands at the realization she had just made. She couldn't love Stephen or Jake, because she was in love with Fitz. She loved Fitz, and she would be sure to let him know that she loved him.

* * *

**A/N: Aw poor Stephen...but it looks like he might be finding a different love interest. Sorry if this chapter is a little bit shorter, it's part of the pacing that I'm trying to put the story at between its back and forth of the present and past. I hope you all enjoyed, and get ready because the chapter may have a cute, sweet moment or two...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

*****Summer 2019*****

Olivia was on the west lawn of the resort overseeing her staff as they set up the tables for her daughter's wedding. It was only two days away, and as the hostess of the wedding ceremony and the mother of the bride, she was completely booked with planning. Since she missed having a wedding herself, and figured that she never would, she wanted to do everything in her power to ensure that her daughter's wedding was perfect!

"Liv?" She heard a weak voice from behind her and turned around.

"Oh my god! What happened to you?" She nearly doubled over at the sight of a burnt, crisp Jake. His entire face and upper body was bright bright pink with a band white around his eyes from the sunglasses he wore.

"I-I fell asleep in the sun. I put on sunscreen, but I don't think it worked all too well," he said, looking down at himself.

"I'll say," Olivia laughed, "you look like a lobster."

Though in pain, Jake chuckled knowing that he was making Olivia laugh.

"You wouldn't happen to have anything?" he asked.

"Come on, I'll show you the clinic. I should have some aloe that will help." Liv walked away with Jake following her.

They got to the clinic, and Olivia pulled out the first aid kit. She put some aloe lotion on her hand and brushed her hands against Jake's face, making him flinch.

"Hold still."

"I'm trying," he complained.

Meanwhile Fitz had left Raya and Zeke to try and find Olivia. He needed to talk to her about the past and what he did, and he had some questions for her as well regarding Raya. She was with him that summer, was Raya his daughter? At this point he wasn't going to take no for an answer or let himself be ignored, if Liv tried to dismiss him again, he would force her to hear him out. He had already been punished enough in his life to make up for his wrongdoings, living the last 23 years without the love of his life. Suddenly he heard Liv's voice and walked in the general direction of where the voice was coming from. He could just make out Olivia and Jake, while hiding on the side of the doorway, just enough so he could look in. Jake looked real red, and Fitz gave himself a little pat on the back for a job well done.

"That is the last time I am ever going to use that brand of sunscreen. I just wanted to get some sun."

"I bet you're regretting all that sun now?" Olivia signaled Jake to turn around, so she could get his back.

"I have…a lot of regrets," he exhaled.

"Jake…let's not."

"No Liv, not taking care of you when I had the chance is the biggest regret I have in my life. I was such an idiot back then."

"We were young," she excused their actions.

"Maybe, but I knew you were special. I knew I should have never taken you for granted, and I was such an idiot to have done so, Liv. You changed me, Olivia Pope. You made me address my messes and try to fix them. I guess what I'm trying to say here is thank you."

* * *

*****Summer 1996*****

Olivia went to Jake's door and knocked, mentally preparing herself for the conversation they were about to have.

"Olivia hey," he said opening the door, "I was actually going to call you to see if you wanted to come over; it's been awhile." Jake hadn't seen her since before the Santa Barbara weekend.

"Jake, we need to talk," she declared.

"Uh oh. That can't be good," He laughed with a goofy smile. Olivia shot him a look. "Oh you're serious? Liv, can you at least come in? If we're going to talk, I'd like for my neighbors not to hear."

Olivia walked inside and Jake closed the door behind her.

"What's going on?"

"Jake, these last few weeks with you have been fun, but I think it's time that we stop," she spoke avoiding his eyes.

"Liv, wait I know things with us have been off since that conversation we had that one morning, but that doesn't mean we have to-"

"No Jake, listen. There is no 'we' this isn't about us; this is about me. I can't do a casual relationship with you anymore, honestly I don't think I ever even wanted something just casual."

Jake inhaled sharply. He could tell there was tension between them the past couple of weeks, but he didn't think she was going to end things so abruptly. He had actually started to develop feelings for her, something that he never thought he was even capable of.

"Liv…hang on. I can change," he pleaded.

"Jake, I understand if you only want a causal relationship, since you're being shipped out, but I can't."

"No really Liv, I'll change. We'll date for real this time, and even continue long distance once I get shipped off," he rambled on with his speech, putting his heart on the line. "I have feelings for you, Liv. You are the one and only girl who I genuinely have feelings for. I'll give you a real relationship, Liv. I promise, because you deserve a real relationship. I'll change for you, Liv, I promise."

Olivia took a deep breath, she knew this part was going to be hard for him to hear.

"Jake, I've been seeing someone."

"That's ok, I told you there wasn't any commitment before, but now-"

"No, this other guy that I'm seeing…I like him a lot…I love him," she said the words out loud for the first time, and it felt so right to say the words love with Fitz on her mind; it felt so natural.

"Liv, can you give me another chance? I can show you the kind of guy I can be."

"I don't doubt that you're capable of self-improvement Jake, just don't do it for me. If you want to become a better man to commite to a relationship, do it for another girl who I'm sure will make you happy and you will make her happy too."

Jake collapsed on his couch and looked up at Liv, making eye contact with her.

"This guy that you love, is he the one?"

"I think so," she whispered.

"Goodbye Jake, and good luck." And with that Olivia left his apartment for good.

* * *

Fitz wasn't expecting anyone to be coming over this late, but he especially wasn't expecting to see Olivia banging on his door at 1am three days after they had gotten back from their weekend vacation. He opened the door and saw her looking frenzied.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Are your parents home?" she asked.

"No, but why-" he was cut off by her lips crashing down onto his. He kissed her back, welcoming her return to him. He felt her pull away.

"I love you too."

"Hmmm?" he was somewhat confused on where this was coming from.

"At the house in Santa Barbara, you told me you love me, and I didn't say it back, but I love you too. I am in love with you too."

He knew what she was referring to. Right before they fell asleep naked on his kitchen floor, he had poured out his feelings to her. He didn't expect her to say it back, he assumed that she hadn't taken him seriously since he said it groggily. But he meant every word. She smiled up at him and Fitz's face gleamed with happiness.

"Ok," Fitz whispered, leaning in to kiss her. She jumped onto him wrapping her legs around his waist as their make out session continued to escalate.

"Can I spend the night?" she asked him as he carried her up the stairs.

"Olivia Pope, you can spend every night."

* * *

*****Summer 2019*****

Fitz stood inches away from the door, his breathing becoming rigid as he watched Olivia rub Jake's back and then his chest with lotion.

"It's ok Jake, I'm glad you're figuring things out for yourself."

"Are you happy here, Liv? And be honest."

"Of course, Jake. I'm single. I'm free. It's nice."

"You don't think you'll ever want to be in a relationship again? Or try?" He looked down at her with sincere eyes and holding onto her hands.

"I'm happy here, by myself," she insisted, putting his hands down at his sides.

This was enough for Fitz; he couldn't take it anymore and stormed off. He felt his pulse racing as he thought about what he had just witnessed. Olivia touching Jake, him apologizing to her, asking her questions, being able to talk to her. Jealous was an understatement to how he was feeling right now.

He took off to a supply closet on the side of the lobby to try and get himself together, but he couldn't. That should have been him getting his back rubbed by Olivia, that should have been him talking to her, apologizing to her for what he did, asking and making sure she was happy, and willing to do anything for her that would make her happy. He didn't realize when tears began pooling in his eyes, but his emotions were getting the better of him. He flung his arms across one of the shelves, knocking off all the supplies that were on it. Before he could even think to stop himself from a destructive tantrum, he felt his fist hitting through the drywall. He quickly pulled back his hand and held it, wincing at the pain he was not expecting. He knew he shouldn't have thrown a fit like he had, but after years of pent up feelings at the mercy of his father, he had just recently learned how to let himself feel his emotions and express himself, and with all things recently learned, he still had ways to go. He slid down the wall and brought his knees to his chest. In a desperate attempt to calm himself, he rehearsed his breathing exercises, breathing in for four, holding for four, and breathing out for four.

He remained in that position with his eyes closed until he heard the door open.

"Liv?" He could only hope out loud before he opened his eyes and saw one of her friends he had met earlier that day at the beach bar. He wanted to say her name was Quinn.

"What the fuck happened here?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Fitz stood up. "I'll clean all of this up."

Quinn noticed the hole in the wall behind him.

"Did you destroy our wall?!" she shouted in somewhat disbelief.

"I'm sorry. I'll fix that too," Fitz replied awkwardly. "I just had a bit of a moment, but I'll fix everything."

"Well you better, or Olivia is going to freak. Sheesh, if this is how you handle stress, I am glad you did not become the President." Quinn uttered under her breath, but it was just loud enough for Fitz to hear. He winced at the comment, but thought better than to respond to it.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Looking for a clipboard," Quinn pointed to the clipboard on the floor that Fitz had knocked off the shelf. He picked it up off the floor and gave it to her.

"Thank you. We're putting on a talent show for the guests tonight, and I am going to have to force a bunch of more people to sign up."

"Did you sign Liv up?" Fitz suggested.

"Olivia?"

"Yeah, she's a real good singer. Really talented and amazing…"

"I didn't even know Olivia can sing."

"She's never sung here before?" Fitz's heart hurt, learning that Liv had given up the one activity that made her happy. He thought that his actions were to help her career, but it looked like it only made things worse for her.

"I mean I know she plays the piano, but she's never performed before."

"Sign her up," Fitz urged, "it'll make her really happy."

"And you?" Quinn asked smirking, "Do you have any talents, other than property damage that is?"

* * *

Evening arrived and the show began. Olivia watched from the back row as the guests of the Fuwele resort gathered in and took their seats. She noticed her daughter and Ezekiel sitting at a table with Abby, Stephen and Jake. She smiled seeing her bond with them. She wondered where Fitz was however, when she turned and noticed him sitting at a table in the corner alone reading from a notebook. Always a loner, she thought. He looked sad, and she felt a little sorry for him. She contemplated going over there to sit down just so he wouldn't be sitting by himself, but he seemed extremely engrossed in whatever he was reading, so she remained standing where she was as the show continued. Act by act the show was beginning to wrap up with Quinn acting as the MC for the night. Quinn came to the stage to introduce one last act.

"Thank you very much. Let's hear it again one more time for Tina and her tap dancing toes!"

The audience roared with applause.

"Now I hope you are all prepared for this, we've got a special treat tonight for our final performance. Some of you may know her as the head hancho, the face of Fuwele…"

Olivia gasped loudly. Quinn couldn't be talking about her. She never agreed to this. She hadn't performed in twenty years. She had never even talked to Quinn about her musical past.

"Please give a warm welcome to Fuwele's very own Olivia Pope!" Quinn cheered. The entire audience turned to look at Olivia. Olivia stood in shock. She was like a deer in headlights. She felt her chest caving in from the attention of the audience. And just as quick as a startled deer, Olivia bolted. Fitz watched the commotion unfold from his corner table.

"Liv?" Fitz called out and got out of his chair running after her through the resort's courtyard. "Liv, wait up!"

He sprinted around her eventually blocking her path outside the main entrance of the resort and grabbing her by the shoulders.

"What's wrong?" he panted, trying to catch his breath.

"Who the hell signed me up? I don't even sing anymore!" Olivia seethed.

"But you love singing," Fitz persisted. Olivia grabbed his wrists and flung them off his shoulders.

"It was you!" She pointed an angry finger at Fitz. "I should have known it was you who signed me up. Fitz, I don't do that anymore. Now I made a fool of myself in front of all my staff and guests…Why don't you just leave me alone?"

"I can't," Fitz uttered. "You don't have to make a fool out of yourself. They're all still there. You can wow them with your talent Livvie."

Liv didn't respond.

"Livvie, you have a gift, an amazing voice."

She started to back away from him.

"Fitz, I haven't performed in years." She sounded like she was trying to stifle a cry.

"You're just nervous," he observed.

Fitz slowly and delicately reached out toward Liv. As much as she wanted to pull back she stayed as she was.

"Here," Fitz said, grabbing Olivia's hands. "Close your eyes."

"Fitz we're not-"

"Close your eyes," he repeated, and she followed at his insistence.

"Ok good. Now follow my voice. In 2, 3, 4; hold 2, 3, 4; out 2, 3, 4. In 2, 3, 4; hold 2, 3, 4; out 2, 3, 4." She followed Fitz's instruction, completing the breathing exercises that she herself used to use when she was younger. She felt herself calm down, letting go of all the tension and the fear she had built up.

"Better?" She heard him ask.

"Much." She slowly opened her eyes, and for the first time in over twenty years, gave Fitz a true, warm smile. She looked up into his eyes and as doe brown met piercing blue, Olivia felt her heart do a little leap within her chest.

No! She couldn't let herself fall for his tricks again. She was young and foolish when she fell for him the first time, now she would just be foolish. She let go of his hands and stared back at the ground. They heard rustling coming near them.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Raya asked coming out of the entrance with Zeke, Jake, Abby and Stephen following her.

"Yeah, I'm good, honey. Is everyone still there?"

"Yep, we're all waiting for you," Abby replied.

"Good, I'll be right there."

They walked back to the show with Olivia feeling more confident to perform. Fitz took to the side of the stage so he would be more visible to Liv, just in case she needed him. Olivia took her place on the stage and sat by the piano. She took another deep breath for four seconds and looked at Fitz who was standing by the stage already beaming full of pride. They briefly made eye contact, and then Olivia turned to the keys and began to play.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry I know it's been a while, but things have been a bit crazy with work. I've almost finished writing the full rough draft of the story, so I'll be uploading all the chapters I already have written on a regularly frequent basis. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, we have an adult Liv starting to warm up a little more, and we'll have more flashbacks in the next three chapters that address what happened between Olivia and Fitz in their past, and why Olivia ran away. I'm excited to share the next few chapter with you all. I feel like the story will really start to pick up now. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

*****Summer 2019*****

They walked back to the show with Olivia feeling more confident to perform. Fitz took to the side of the stage so he would be more visible to Liv, just in case she needed him. Olivia took her place on the stage and sat by the piano. She took another deep breath for four seconds and looked at Fitz who was standing by the stage already beaming full of pride. They briefly made eye contact, and then Olivia turned to the keys and began to play.

Her fingers started a sweet and soulful melody, one that brought on a sort of nostalgia toward Fitz. He was certain he had heard it before.

_I, I've been in love before  
I thought I would no more  
Manage to hit the ceiling  
Still, strange as it seems to me  
You brought it back to me  
That old feeling_

_I, I don't know what you do  
You make me think that you  
Possibly could release me  
I think you'll be able to  
Make all my dreams come true  
And you ease me_

As Olivia progressed to the chorus, it occurred to him where he had heard the song before; it was 23 years ago at his house.

* * *

*****Summer 1996*****

_You thrill me, you delight me  
You please me, you excite me  
You're something I'd been pleading for  
I love you, I adore you  
I lay my life before you  
I'll have you want me more and more  
And finally it seems my lonely days are through  
I've been waiting for you_

Fitz came around and wrapped his arms around her from behind as she continued to play. It had been two weeks since Olivia declared her feelings for Fitz, and with his parents staying at their place in Sacramento, he has been able to spend just about every waking minute with Liv (and the non waking minutes too). He kissed her down the side of her neck.

"That's beautiful! You wrote that?" He buried his head into her shoulder. She turned around and cupped his face.

"I did. It's not done yet, but I've been feeling pretty inspired recently." She gently pecked him on the lips.

"Does that mean I'll be getting a share of the royalties?" he grinned.

"You Grant men and your money," she joked. "Is breakfast ready yet?"

"Just about," Fitz was leaving later in the evening to catch a night flight to Sacramento and be with his parents for a little bit. They had important matters to discuss. So Fitz and Liv decided to spend as much of the day together as they could before he had to leave, starting with an early morning breakfast. Fitz went back into the kitchen to grab tray of pancakes he made, and bring them into the living room for him and Liv to enjoy. Olivia got off from the piano bench and looked around the artwork of the house. She never noticed the exquisite paintings before. She stood in awe, wondering how many of them were actually originals or if Big Gerry bought replicas and lied well enough to his prominent guest to pass them off as originals.

Olivia noticed a sparkling box set on the counter from the corner of her eye. She walked toward it to get a closer look.

"For Mellie," she read out loud before opening the box to see what was in it. She discovered a beautiful gold ring, shaped into the infinity symbol. It looked rare and old, and gorgeous as the light shined against it. She assumed it was pure gold.

"Livvie?" she turned around and saw Fitz coming in with the assortment of breakfast foods he prepared.

"What's this?" Olivia asked. The ring looked very special and important. Part of her wondered if it was an engagement ring, and wondered who it was meant for. Fitz wasn't about to propose to her was he? The box said "for Mellie," so it must be for whoever Mellie is or was, Olivia thought.

Fitz froze upon realizing that Olivia had noticed the engagement ring Big Gerry had taken out for him to give to Mellie. He should have explained the situation in full to her, but he didn't want his Livvie to panic and worry over a woman who would never be a threat to her. He didn't want her to suddenly feel insecure. He would never choose Mellie over her, no matter how much pressure his father put on him. Creating a sense of worry and reason to be jealous seemed pointless to Fitz. So instead of opening up, and telling her about the fight he recently had with Big Gerry, he skimmed over her question.

"Oh that. It's a family heirloom." Fitz explained, he figured he would try and give her the full story of the ring so Olivia wouldn't try to ask anymore questions, and he wouldn't have to talk about Mellie in front of her. "It was my great grandmother's. Her father bought it in Paris right before her debutante ball."

Olivia put the ring back in the box and closed it. Fitz let out a small sigh of relief, hoping there would be no further questions about what it was doing out in the open.

"Her name was Mellie?"

"Hmm?" Fitz looked at her confused.

"Your great grandmother, her name was Mellie? It says that on the box." She pointed to the label Big Gerry had written on it not to long ago.

"Oh, yes," Fitz quickly nodded, feeling a heavy lump grow in his throat. He didn't like the idea of lying, but he was frightened over what Olivia would do if he knew who Mellie actually was to his family, and the reason why the box indicated the ring was for her. Fitz decided to quickly change the subject, before any more questions could arise.

"How about we eat breakfast before it gets cold?"

Olivia joined him on the couch and dug in.

* * *

Fitz pulled up into the driveway of his parents Sacramento home, weary of whatever this important meeting was going to be about. He noticed a car he didn't recognize in the driveway and feared that it might be Mellie's, and his father was making yet another unsuccessful attempt to the pair the two up. He ran up the steps with his bag in hand, ready to see what could possibly be so important that he had to drop everything in LA and fly up on a single day's notice.

"Oh Fitz! You're here!" His mother greeted him at the door with a long warm hug.

"Hi ma," he kissed her cheek. "Where's dad?"

"He's in the library. He has a special visitor he wants you to meet."

Fitz put his bag down and headed upstairs to his father library. He found his father in his classic leather armchair, sipping bourbon with a middle-aged bearded man across from him on the couch.

"Ah Fitz, my boy, come in!" His father almost sounded chipper and too cheery. It made Fitz cautious as he crept in. He was about to sit down on the couch from the other side of the strange man, when his dad stopped him. "Wait, wait, wait, stand up."

Fitz followed orders and stood back up. His father and the man stood up out of their seats also and approached him.

"Cyrus, this is my son Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III," he introduced him. Fitz stood still awkwardly as Cyrus began pacing circles around him, tracing him over up and down with his eyes.

"Tall, well built, nice head of hair," Cyrus observed. "Where are we on schooling?"

"Harvard, Rhode scholar, then Stanford Law, and the Navy," Big Gerry answered.

"That'll do. Can we see his smile?" Cyrus asked. Fitz followed and gave him a confused lopsided grin. "Eh, could use some work, but we'll practice."

"What is this?" Fitz interrupted, his father and Cyrus' examination.

"Son, meet Cyrus Beene, your king maker. He turns average guys into candidates and candidates into gold. He's your ticket to the White House."

"I thought I wasn't going to run for Congress for another two years."

"Which mean you've got one year until you announce, which means you start right now!" Cyrus hollered.

"What?" Fitz backed away from him and Big Gerry.

"You got to start fundraising, son, put your name out there! Right now people only know you because of me, but I'm retiring now, and you're going to be stepping up." Big Gerry poked at his son's chest. "Which mean you start when Cyrus Beene tells you to start."

Fitz shot Cyrus a glance, which was returned with an apologetic, sympathetic look.

"It won't be too much at first, just a fundraiser here and there, attend some dinners, events to mingle with some powerful and rich Californians," he assured him.

"When are we starting?" Fitz asked in a monotone voice.

"Next weekend we've got a fundraiser for up and coming conservative politicians. I spoke to a few buddies, and managed to get you some time to kick off a speech and unofficially start your campaign." Big Gerry put a hand on his son's shoulder. "You're going to do great, I can already tell, a President in the making," he boasted fondly.

Fitz looked up and genuinely smiled at his dad. This was the first time he had ever actually shown some type of kindness toward him. Cyrus packed up his bags and began to leave.

"Oh one more thing!" he remembered turning around in the doorway. "What is the status of your love life? People like to know these things."

"I have a girlfriend," Fitz answered and Gerry backed away, putting his head down.

"Good! Bring her!" Cyrus called out and left the room.

Fitz turned to his dad, knowing full well the conversation that was about to take place.

"You can't bring that Olivia Pope girl."

"Why not?"

"She doesn't belong in our world," Big Gerry asserted more aggressively.

"I think you mean she doesn't belong in your world," Fitz shot back. "You don't want her because you think she's a threat to your legacy, because she's sharp enough to call attention to some of the side deals you made with big energy companies and-"

"Watch it, Fitzgerald!" Gerry barked. Eleanor came running into the room after hearing the rising commotion.

"What is going on?" she demanded.

"Fitz wants to bring the aspiring singer girlfriend of his to the benefit dinner next Saturday."

"I don't want to, I'm going to," Fitz corrected.

"Ellie, can you explain to him how bad an idea this is," Big Gerry could feel his blood pressure rising.

"I don't see why?" Fitz yelled, exasperated.

"She wants to be a singer, Fitzgerald!" Big Gerry finally yelled. "How many politicians do you know have a celebrity, Hollywood wife, huh? My guess is none."

Fitz paused, realizing that he didn't know of any political/celebrity couples. All the politicians he knew had the prim and proper political wife, who stood to the side supporting their husband and raising the kids, putting their own career on hold.

"If she really wants to be a professional singer, she's going to have to stay in LA, work on songs, make her connections there. She can't be traveling all over California, and eventually all over the country for you. There's a reason, Fitz. There's a reason you don't see busy career-driven women with politicians. If you cared about her career, about her actually making it in the recording industry, if you cared about her, you'd shake her loose right now while she still has a chance."

"I-No…you're wrong," Fitz shook his head. He wasn't going to let his father get to him. He could run and win while Olivia continued to pursue her dream.

"Fine," Big Gerry waved his hand, "Invite her to the dinner, and see how she likes it and if she can handle doing those types of events for the rest of her life."

* * *

"Your father really invited me?" Olivia asked utterly surprised. They were snuggled on the couch several days later once Fitz returned.

"He wants you to be there," Fitz reassured her. "It kind of surprised me too. He was actually nice to me at one point during the meeting with Cyrus Beene, which…Liv, he's never been nice to me before."

"It looks like he's finally starting to see how great of a leader you could be," Olivia cupped his cheek and gave him a quick kiss.

"You really think I'll make a good President?" he asked with sad eyes. Olivia stroked the side of his head.

"I think you'll make a great President."

Olivia shot up from her spot on the couch and looked at herself in the mirror, trying to envision herself at the benefit dinner.

"What an exciting time we've got for us: me with my interview for _Billboard_ and you with your first fundraising event. Hey, what do people normally wear to these kinds of things? Is it cocktail attire or more business formal?"

Fitz cleared his throat.

"Liv, I've been meaning to ask you, how serious are you about becoming a rock star?"

Liv laughed, "I wouldn't say rock star."

"Or singer, songwriter?"

"I want it more than anything Fitz! Just like how you want the White House." She sat back down next to him. "I mean, I turned my entire life around and moved here, not knowing a single person or having any support system. If that doesn't show how dedicated I am to this, then I don't know what does. Why?"

"No reason," and Fitz was once again plagued with guilt now for the second time. He didn't want his pursuit of the office to be an obstacle for Olivia's pursuit of her dreams.

* * *

*****Summer 2019*****

_I, I'm gonna make you mine  
You're gonna feel so fine  
You'll never want to leave me  
I feel you belong to me  
Someday you will agree  
Please, believe me_

_You thrill me, you delight me  
You please me, you excite me  
You're something I'd been pleading for  
I love you, I adore you  
I lay my life before you  
I'll have you want me more and more  
And finally it seems my lonely days are through  
I've been waiting for you  
Oh, I've been waiting for you_

Fitz was brought out of his train of thought when he heard the loud applause roar from the audience. Olivia took to the center of the stage, smiling wide and taking a bow. She had forgotten the exhilarating rush she got from performing, and Fitz was proud of her.

Olivia got off the stage to go back to her seat. Fitz noticed how on top of the world she looked, and after their little moment they had shared before, he thought now would be as good a time as ever to talk to her. He walked toward her.

"Hi," he said shyly.

"Hi," she replied.

Fitz was stunned. Had she actually just said "hi" back to him? He felt his heart thumping hard in his chest.

"You did great up there…" he said nervously. He used to be so cool around Olivia, but now here he was acting like a nervous middle school boy.

"Thanks."

Fitz wasn't sure what to say next. He wasn't sure what he could say to try and keep their conversation going. Should he go right into an apology? They were still in public, maybe that wasn't the best time. Before he could come up with another sentence however, he was interrupted.

"Mom! Oh my god! That was amazing! I had no idea you could sing!" Raya ran up hugging her mother tightly with Zeke, Abby, Stephen, and Jake right behind her.

"Liv, I never doubted you for a second," Stephen praised, giving her a hug.

"You've still got it, haven't changed at all," Jake confirmed, giving her a hug as well.

Fitz watched from a few yards away as Olivia became absorbed into a conversation with the five others. He couldn't help but notice her sincere smile as she talked away with her daughter and her friends. He knew he could join them, but it just felt wrong for some reason. Here she was smiing happily with Stephen and Jake and her daughter and friends, and all he managed to accomplish was getting her to say "hi." Feeling out of place, Fitz backed away and walked off.

Fitz walked onto the boating dock to take a minute to himself. He was trying to wrap his head around the idea that he would never win her back. He had lost her all those years ago for good. He would have to go back home to America in a couple of days for good. And after 23 years, he would have to begin the process of moving. He didn't know how. Where do you even start moving on from the love of your life?

"Hey!"

Fitz spun around at the girl's voice. It was Raya coming toward him. He noticed she was holding his notebook in her hands.

"Hey, where did you get that? That's private!" Fitz said slightly irritated, taking the notebook out of her hands, hoping to god she had not opened it.

"You left it at your table…before you ran after my mom…" Raya explained with some hurt to her voice over his quick aggression, generating some guilt into Fitz.

"Oh right…I'm sorry. It's just important work stuff that's in here that's all…" he tried to explain.

Raya didn't believe him for one second, but she wasn't about to press the matter. It seemed like a rough subject, and she didn't want to upset him, she wanted to spend time with him. Snorkeling with Fitz earlier had been fun, but she felt she could have gotten to know him more, and wanted to include him for some more activities.

"Well, we're about to have a bond fire – Me, my mom, Zeke, Jake, Abby and Stephen – if you want to join us? I think Abby and Stephen are really hitting it off." Raya said enthusiastically. "Do you want to come with us?"

"I-I can't. I have work I need to do." Fitz excused himself. He thought maybe it was time he listened to Olivia and left her alone like she asked. She looked happy after all from talking with Jake and Stephen and Abby and her daughter. Who was he to be bringing havoc and chaos into her life?

"I feel like that's just an excuse." And it was.

"No, I have work I need to get done. People I need to call," Fitz said, getting frustrated with Raya's constant provoking.

"People to call like Lauren?" she asked, bringing a shocked look onto Fitz's face.

"What-How do you know Lauren? Have you been spying on me?" his voice was starting to get angry, which only triggered Raya more.

"If she's so important that you need to call her every night, why did you even come here to see my mom?"

"I don't know why!" Fitz yelled. "I don't know what I was thinking would happen when I got that invitation to fly out here, but now I know it was a mistake! I'm taking the next flight out."

Raya stared at Fitz with big brown eyes that mirrored her mother's.

"Raya, I'm sorry for yelling," he spoke sincerely and sadly. He had already upset Olivia enough as it was, he didn't also need to upset her daughter.

"That's ok. It's fine…I should probably go. The fire is starting, and we're making s'mores." Raya blinked rapidly to hide the tears she refused to show and ran away, leaving Fitz alone in the dark.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for all the positive support and reviews. I love hearing what all of you have to say. We're not getting closer to finding out what happened that made Fitz and Olivia's relationship end so poorly all those years ago, but hopefully we're also closer to them making up from it in the present. Hopefully this chapter gives some insight into where young Fitz's mind was when things ended between him and young Olivia. More details on that will be in the following two chapters. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

*****Summer 2019*****

Fitz laid awake in the pallet he made on the floor, tossing and turning. The events of today only triggered him. Memories from the summer of '96 were playing vividly in his head, keeping him from getting any shuteye. Every single time he closed his eyes he felt himself being transported to that benefit dinner, the single dinner that changed his life forever.

* * *

*****Summer 1996*****

Saturday arrived faster than expected, and Olivia and Fitz stayed in bed together, waiting for the last possible second to get out. With the exception of getting food and going to the bathroom the couple managed to stay in bed under the sheets throughout the whole morning and well into the afternoon.

"Come on mister, we have to get up and start getting ready."

Fitz turned over in the covers and put the blanket over his head.

"No, I don't want to."

"Come on, Fitz," she gently shook him.

"Just a little longer?" he urged, making puppy dog eyes at her. He was feeling nervous about the dinner. Fitz wasn't really one who liked attention and having the public's focus on him, which for a future politician wasn't very ideal, considering that was a requirement of the job. Olivia could sense the bit of fear in his voice.

"Are you nervous to give your speech?" she stroked the side of his head and ran her fingers through his curls to get him to relax.

"What? Me? No. I'm a Grant..." Fitz spoke sarcastically. "Ok…maybe a little."

Fitz sat up and leaned his back against the headboard. Full truth was that he was nervous about a multitude of things: the speech, the official start of his career, Liv meeting his parents, Mellie and Liv being in a room together, and the troubled thought Big Gerry put in his head that Liv would leave him once she caught wind of the wildness that comes with being in the political arena.

"What if we didn't go? What if we ran away instead?" he suggested enthusiastically.

"You're kidding!" she laughed.

"No Livvie, I'm serious. Let's just runaway and leave this whole busy LA world behind us. We can run off to an island somewhere, just you and me."

"And where would we go?" she asked.

"I've heard Zanzibar is apparently really nice."

"You want to runaway and go to Zanzibar?" Olivia laughed again. "Fitz, you have nothing to worry about. Your speech is phenomenal…I should know," Olivia grinned. The past couple of days in preparation of the dinner, Olivia offered to help Fitz with his speech. What she thought would be helping a little bit here and there turned into the two of them basically writing the whole thing from start to finish together. Olivia wasn't complaining, she liked helping Fitz with his speech, and the end product was remarkable, a true telling of their amazing teamwork.

"Time to get up," Olivia urged once more before getting out of bed herself.

* * *

Fitz held the door open for Olivia as she made her way into the ballroom. Dressed fully in a tux and ball gown, Fitz and Olivia felt that this was truly the start of their professional lives.

"Come on, I think it's time you met my parents for real as my girlfriend," Fitz insisted, taking Olivia in his arm and going toward Big Gerry and Eleanor on the side of the room, where they mingled with their hors d'oeuvre dish.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Trust me, my mother is fine and my father was told to be on his best behavior." Fitz reached his parents and kindly gestured toward Olivia. He prayed that they would follow with their promise and behave.

"Mom, Dad, this is Olivia."

Fitz's parents both observed her, scanning her with their eyes, until his mother released what Olivia thought was a forced smile.

"It's great to meet you, Olivia."

"It's very nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Grant."

"Oh please, call me Eleanor," she laughed.

Olivia nodded her head and looked at Big Gerry.

"And it's great to see you again, Senator Grant."

"Ha, save it. Lying doesn't look good on you, sweetheart." Big Gerry laughed and walked away.

Olivia looked at Fitz concerned, "Best behavior?"

"I mean it's a step up from considering you to be a prostitute," Fitz smirked, but knew Olivia was not taking the situation lightly at all.

"Ignore him, sweetie. I told Fitz I would talk to him before the dinner, and I didn't get the chance to. I'll make sure he receives the talk tonight." Eleanor looked at Olivia with a serious and determined face that made Olivia feel more respectful of her; perhaps she wasn't just some dotty political wife.

"Thank you, Eleanor. I really appreciate that." Olivia smiled.

"Let's go get a drink," Fitz offered and the two walked toward the bar.

While at the bar, Big Gerry and Cyrus pulled Fitz aside in order to get him to mingle with all the right wealthy potential donors prior to his speech. Leaving Olivia by herself, she began aimlessly walking around the ballroom, looking for someone she could strike up a conversation with.

"I love those shoes!" Olivia turned around and saw a lovely brunette only a couple years older than her in a blue gown and diamond earrings.

"Oh thank you," Olivia replied, not knowing what else to do, she decided to take a seat next to the young woman.

"Is this your first political event?" the woman asked Liv.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I can tell. Don't worry, you'll get used to them quite quickly. Who do you know here?"

"I'm a-" Olivia wasn't exactly sure how best to respond to strangers with this. She wasn't sure if Fitz was making his relationship with her known to the public yet, "-I'm a friend of Fitz." She decided that was a fair enough answer.

"Oh, well if you're a friend of Fitz's, then you'll be fine. He'll show you the ropes. He and I have been coming to these types of political events together since we were in diapers." she laughed.

Olivia felt a person behind her, and noticed Big Gerry taking a seat of his own at their table.

"Well, Olivia, I see you've already met the wonderful Mellie Doyle."

Did he say Mellie? Olivia thought to herself for a moment before she responded in a way that could have been an overreaction to something with a simple explanation. This woman's name was also Mellie, and she had known Fitz since they were basically born. She must have been part of the Grant family - a cousin or something. That was the only logical reason Olivia could come up with at the moment. Mellie wasn't a very common name after all; it would have been too strange of a coincidence.

"Oh, I didn't realize that Mellie was a family name," Olivia replied with a smile.

Big Gerry and Mellie exchanged confused looks.

"Mellie isn't a family name," Big Gerry declared.

"Well, it's not yet!" Mellie corrected, laughing far too jolly.

Olivia turned in her chair to Big Gerry.

"You see Mellie here is…well…how would you put it? Betrothed?"

"I would say it's more like engaged to be engaged." Mellie smiled, giggling in her same annoying tone.

Olivia felt waves of nausea crashing over her.

"Engaged to F-Fitz?" she stuttered, thinking about the ring she saw in the living room of his apartment, how quick he was to change the subject when asked about it.

"That's the plan. And if all goes well, Mellie here is going to be our future First Lady." Big Gerry smiled at Mellie and leaned in close to Olivia, whispering so only she could hear.

"I'm not sure what kind of lies he may have told you, or what kind of lies you've told yourself about changing him, but the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. Don't worry though sweetheart, you can keep on seeing him if you like…I would suggest trying to make a profit off of it though. May as well…" Big Gerry got up from his chair and strutted away.

"Are you alright, Olivia?" Mellie reached out.

"I'm fine. I'm good. I just…I have to go!" Olivia got up from her chair and ran out of the ballroom.

This was too much for her. Fitz was engaged! Ok well, not engaged, but planning on being engaged. He even had the ring he was going to use, so he must have been planning on asking her soon. She couldn't believe she fell for him. She should have stuck with her instinct when she found out he was Senator Gerry Grant II's son. She made it out of the building, quickly reaching for her face to try and control the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. She heard footsteps running toward her, and used all her strength to turn around and look up.

"Liv? Livvie? What's wrong?" Fitz wrapped his arms around Olivia's hunched over body. She immediately broke free from his grip.

"Do not touch me!"

Fitz backed away a few steps to give her some space. "What's wrong? What happened in there? Did my father do something? I swear to god Liv if he-"

"No, this wasn't your father, Fitz. I thought I knew you." Olivia began crying, sobs taking full control of her.

"You do know me!" Fitz insisted, his eyes getting watery from watching the love of his life react in such despair. He wanted to know what happened back there that made her so upset. He was in the middle of talking to members of the agribusiness lobby when he saw Olivia make a sprint out of the door.

"Do I? Is your great grandmother's name actually Mellie?" she asked. The words hit Fitz like daggers, and he knew the truth was coming out now. She found out who Mellie was, and this was what he feared.

He walked forward slowly and grabbed hold of her hands. Olivia immediately pulled back. She couldn't let his touch play tricks on her mind. He was too good at that.

"Livvie, I'm sorry. I should have told you the truth. Listen to me, I can explain. Mellie - she means nothing to me. It's just my father. He has this whole vision pla-"

"Planned out. I know!" Olivia interrupted, dissatisfied with his explanation so far. "So she's part of that plan you're following?"

From outside the building they could hear the crowd inside quiet down as a single voice boomed off the ballroom's PA system, welcoming the guests.

_"THANK YOU DONORS FOR COMING OUT THIS EVENING TO DISCUSS POLICY AND FUNDING IN PREPARATION OF THE UPCOMING ELECTION."_

"She's part of my father's plan, but not mine, Livvie," Fitz explained.

_"WE HAVE A NUMBER OF POLITICAL SPEAKERS OUT HERE TONIGHT, SOME OLD FAMILIAR FACES AND SOME NEW ONES TOO AS WE PASS ON THE PARTY TO A NEW GENERATION OF YOUNG CONSERVATIVES."_

"And what exactly is your plan, Fitz?"

"I-I don't know, Livvie…" Fitz was stuck. He was dragged into this political world, but knew that if he stayed in it that Olivia would be miserable. This was only day one of life in politics for her, and was already a target.

"Where does that leave us?" Olivia cried. Fitz stared down at his shoes. If Olivia had any chance of staying out of the overly dramatic and manipulative world of politics and stay committed to following her dream of being a singer like she always wanted, then he had no choice. Big Gerry was right. He had to do it, no matter how much it pained him to.

"I don't want to hurt you, I'm sorry," he quietly mumbled, barely loud enough for Olivia to hear. Instant regret filled him, and he scrunched his face as soon as the words came out, wishing to take those words back and revaluate the situation.

"So that's it, then?" Olivia looked up at him one last time for confirmation. Her eyes were stained red with tears, and it broke Fitz's heart.

_"PROUDLY CARRYING ON A LONG LASTING LEGACY, WE HAVE A FRESH FACE COMING TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. JUST OUT OF SERVING IN THE NAVY, PLEASE WELCOME SENATOR GRANT'S SON, CAPTAIN FITZGERALD THOMAS GRANT III!"_

Fitz looked back over to the doors of the building where his name had just been announced.

"Go, you got a speech to give," Liv instructed.

"Livvie…no. Just…just give me a few minutes…a-and I'll come right out and we'll sort this out. Just wait a few minutes for me, Livvie," Fitz said swapping glances between Liv and the doors.

"I've been waiting for you to talk to your dad about us. I've been waiting for you to make your own decisions. I'm tired of waiting." Olivia breathed. "Go give your speech, Captain Grant."

Olivia pivoted and began to walk away. Fitz watched her walk on, unsure of whether or not he should chase after. He wasn't sure how many seconds had passed, but he was brought out of his daze from the sound of the intercom.

_"…, CAPTAIN FITZGERALD THOMAS GRANT III…. FITZGERALD THOMAS GRANT III? FITZGERALD THOMAS GRANT III?" _

Fitz turned on his heels and went back into the building to give his speech, knowing full well that Olivia would not be waiting for him when he was done.

* * *

*****Summer 2019*****

Fitz jolted from awake. He didn't even remember how the speech ended up going. He was in a haze the whole time. He tossed and turned more, but sounds of Olivia's crying from that day filled his ears. He let out a long exhale and stood from his spot on the floor. He needed to do some reading to keep his mind occupied and Olivia-free. He reached up and grabbed the string of the light, pulling it too far down, and making it snap off.

"Fuck!" Fitz cursed, now perpetually stuck in the dark. He managed to find his sandals and walked out of the boathouse. If he couldn't read, he would have to find something else to keep him busy.

He heard a pair of loud voices toward the courtyard of the resort. Once he got close, he recognized that he was overhearing Raya and Zeke.

"I didn't say that we shouldn't get married, Raya!"

"You just said that we weren't good for marriage!" she shouted back.

"Because communication is important, and you've been keeping secrets from me!"

"I told you why I invited them when I saw you yesterday, and you told me that you understood!"

"I do! I understand why you would want to invite your possible dads to your wedding, but you could have told before you did it. You should have told me!"

Fitz remained lingering, using nearby bushes to hide his presence.

"If I told you, you wouldn't have let me done it!"

"Because it was a bad idea! Inviting your mom's ex-boyfriends without her knowledge. Raya, that's –"

"That's what?"

"Nothing, just forget it…I have to go anyway."

Fitz heard Zeke's footsteps coming his way and hid behind a few trees to mask himself. Well that conversation certainly answered all the questions he had about why he was here in the first place and who was behind the invite. He came out from the trees and looked onto the courtyard. Fitz breathed deeply as he saw Raya curled up on a bench, crying in the late night air. He should have gone back to his shack. He should have tried to forget what he heard and let Olivia deal with it; this was her daughter. He should have tried to get some sleep instead of comforting a girl he had only met a couple days ago who had a 33% chance of being related to him. Despite all the things he should have been doing, Fitz's feet were moving him forward toward the bench.

"Is this seat taken?" Fitz cleared his throat and sat down next to her. Raya took her head out of her hands and looked up at him.

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Uh, quite a bit. But I won't tell your mom about you being mastermind behind inviting Jake, Stephen and me…although I think she already knows."

Raya laughed a bit and wiped her face.

"Yeah she figured that one out the moment she saw all three of you in the same room. Mom has never been open into who my father was, and I just wanted to have you guys there at my wedding, but now it doesn't even matter." Raya started crying a little harder. "I don't even think there's going to be wedding.

"What makes you think that?" Fitz hesitated for a moment, but then went ahead and put his hand on her back, rubbing it in small consoling circles.

"I should have told Zeke what I was doing, but I kept it a secret, and I messed up pretty badly." She wiped her face once again.

"Listen, we all make mistakes, believe me I would know," Fitz said, trying to cheer her up.

"Take this from someone with a lot of experience in messing things up," he cleared his throat once more, "If they love you, they'll forgive you."

"Really?"

"Really."

"So you and my mom?" Raya shifted in her seat.

"Well, I really hurt her, I understand that she doesn't love me anymore…and I'm coming to accept it."

"She does," Raya spoke quickly before he could say anything more.

"Wha-How do you know?" Fitz was cautious in getting his hopes up.

"I can tell. The more aggressive she acts towards you when she's mad, means the more she cares."

Fitz started to blush. He liked Raya giving him this little bit of hope to hold on to.

"Yeah she does have a habit of doing that," Fitz reminisced.

"But Lauren? Your new wife?" Raya asked fearfully that more drama would erupt between her mom, Fitz, and this Lauren girl. Fitz blinked rapidly at Raya, confused by her statement.

"Lauren?" he shook his head. "Lauren is my assistant," he explained.

"Ohhh. I heard you talking to her, saying you missed her. I guess I shouldn't have assumed that, that was pretty wrong of me. I'm sorry if I jumped to conclusions there and got mad at you earlier."

"It's okay," Fitz nudged. "You wouldn't have known. I haven't exactly been making myself open like Jake and Stephen with getting to know each other, and that one's on me."

Raya shook her head in agreement.

"No, you really haven't."

Fitz let out a sigh, upset to have disappointed Raya. The time he's spent on the resort he's been isolated and distant, not really getting to know Raya, which as he had just recently learned was the purpose behind his invitation. He thought she was a great kid, and the idea of disappointing her upset him.

"Tell you what? What are you up to tomorrow morning?" Fitz asked enthusiastically.

"Not much, why?"

"How about you and I go for an early morning walk?"

"There are some nature trails that go through the resort and have a lot of wildlife," Raya added, far perkier than when her talk with Fitz started.

"That sounds great!" Fitz cheered. "Would you want to meet back at this bench at about 7am? We can go for a walk and talk. You can ask me any questions you have. Full disclosure!"

Raya gleefully nodded her head yes.

"Yes, that would be great! Thank you, Fitz!" Just as soon as her excitement caved in her tiredness showed as she tried her best to stifle a yawn. "Sorry, I'm pretty tired. I better get to bed soon if we're going to be up early."

Raya got up from the bench and turned to Fitz.

"Goodnight Fitz."

"Goodnight Raya…and sweet dreams."

Fitz was pretty proud of himself for how he handled that. She was a great kid, clearly her mother's daughter. He wondered if what Raya had said about Olivia still loving him was really true, or if it was just an attempt to comfort him, turning the tables from when he was comforting her only moments before. Fitz didn't want himself to over think this. Regardless, for the first time in years Fitz felt some sort of true sense of hope.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was a rough one to write. On the one hand the fight between Olivia and Fitz hurt, but having Fitz step up to comfort Raya at her time of need was one of the better parts to write. Luckily, it looks like things might be starting to turn around for Fitz, and we'll have a happy Olitz endgame. Some things to look forward to in the next installment: much needed bonding between Fitz and Raya, and a much needed conversation between Olivia and Fitz.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

*****Summer 1996*****

"Liv?" Stephen thought he heard noises just after midnight. He wondered who it could be. Huck and Harrison had gone out; Huck on a business trip, and Harrison on a weekend away with his girlfriend. It was technically just him and Olivia staying at the apartment. Things had been pretty awkward between them ever since he confessed his feelings to her only to be rejected. She spent most of her time with "Gatsby Jr." and whenever they were in the apartment together, they were never in the same room for more than thirty seconds before one of them would find some type of excuse to leave the area. All in all he missed his friend though, and was worried when she didn't come back by ten, but figured it was because she was spending the night at Gatsby Jr.'s place.

He stepped out of his bedroom and out into the hallway. He heard low whimpers and sniffling as he came near the living room.

"Liv?" he repeated, "Liv, hey what's wrong?"

Stephen immediately rushed to her side upon seeing her curled up in a ball under a blanket on the couch. He sat down and immediately hugged her tight.

"Liv, it's ok. You're ok. You can talk to me," he spoke in a soothing voice. "I know things haven't been well with us, but I'm sorry for being petty. If this is about me, I'm so sorry, Liv."

Olivia raised her head from the blanket and sniffled lightly.

"No Stephen, you were right. You were right this whole time about the guys I was seeing. I-I should have listened," she whimpered.

Stephen tucked his finger under her chin and lifted her head up. He could see the heartbreak in her eyes, and at that moment he vowed he would find that he would find the men responsible for breaking Olivia's heart, and make them pay for the pain they caused her.

"Listen to me Liv, men are trash!" He put it bluntly, making Olivia laugh.

"You're not."

"I like to think of myself as compost," he grinned, getting another laugh out of her. "You don't have to talk about him if you're not ready to, but I'll be here for you when you do." He rubbed his hand up and down her arm in a comforting matter, and lightly kissed her on the head. Nothing more than a friendly peck in his mind. He stood up from the couch.

"Stephen wait!" Olivia called out, "don't leave me alone, please?" she begged. Her voice was so broken and wavered with sadness.

Stephen sat back down and cuddled next to Olivia. What else could he do?

"I thought I loved him," Olivia uttered, "he made me feel special."

"You are special! You're brilliant, you're funny, you're wickedly smart, and albeit sexy as hell. If he can't see that, then this dude is blind." Stephen was worried he may have gone too far after she told him she didn't see him in a romantic light, but he needed to be honest with her. He saw all of that within Olivia and more.

"You really see all of that?" Olivia looked up at Stephen with pleading eyes.

"I really do…" Stephen trailed, glaring at Olivia. Despite looking so sad, she was still so beautiful. Stephen knew that he shouldn't try to make any moves. She was in a fragile state, but he wanted to make sure she felt better at the same time, and damn it he always wanted her from the moment he laid eyes on her.

Before Stephen could stop himself, he felt himself leaning in, lightly bushing his lips against hers. She didn't pull away, and he continued sliding his tongue into her mouth, as the kiss grew deep and passionate. He knew he should have stopped, she was upset and vulnerable, but then as he was about to puller away and apologize he felt her hands wrap around the nape of his neck, pulling him in closer.

Olivia continued making out with Stephen, trying to forget all the memories from the past couple of hours. She pulled out of his kiss and gripped the collar of his shirt.

"Liv?" Stephen asked, afraid he had gone too far.

"Take me to bed, Stephen."

* * *

Olivia woke up before the sun even started to rise. She turned over and saw the clock informing her that it was just after five in the morning. Olivia looked around and realized she wasn't in her room. She sat up and turned to her side, and saw Stephen sleeping soundly next to her. She gasped as the memories of the night came flooding back to her. Her meeting Mellie, Fitz breaking up with her, him choosing his career over her, her sleeping with Stephen in a desperate attempt to forget about the benefit dinner. Olivia got up out of the bed and heard Stephen moan and stir in his sleep. He ruffled around, saying something incoherent before passing out once again.

Olivia looked around. How could she have done this? Stephen was a standup guy, and her only friend in LA, and now she had just totally foiled their relationship. Olivia bushed her hands through her hair, trying to think of what to do. She didn't want to stay in this apartment, there were too many memories now all painful. She didn't even want to begin to think about the complicated roommate dynamics that would arise after her impulsive decision she made out of emotional distress. The more she thought about it the more she realized she didn't want to stay in LA, not if Fitz was going to be their elected representative. And if he was eventually going to be governor, she didn't want to stay in California for that matter either. Olivia left Stephen's bedroom and paced circles in the living room.

Of course if Big Gerry's plan was completely successful, which given the Grant family history in politics, it would be successful, she would see Fitz everyday on TV as Governor and then President. The thought of her having to see him on a daily basis even through TV broke her. How far would she have to go to get away from Fitz? She noticed her empty suitcase in the corner of the room. The only piece of luggage she had brought with her from DC to LA. Only a couple of months ago, on a whim of spontaneity she uprooted her whole life and moved to LA without a single idea of what to expect, surely she could do it again if she wanted to.

Olivia quietly wheeled her suitcase into her bedroom and began packing her stuff up. Once completed, she went to the front door and dropped her stuff off there. She snuck into Stephen's room one last time and lightly kissed his cheek.

"Thank you, Stephen," she whispered. She heard him mumble something before rolling over once again. With her single suitcase behind her, Olivia quietly slipped out into the night.

* * *

*****Summer 2019*****

Olivia shot awake at the memory of her move to Zanzibar. She frequently had dreams about her breakup with Fitz when she first moved here, but she hadn't had any in years until last night. She figured she had her daughter who invited him to the resort to thank for that strange reoccurrence.

Speaking of her daughter, she had to wake her daughter up. Her wedding was tomorrow, and she could hardly believe that this was her last day with her little girl. Olivia stretched out of bed and got ready for her day. She approached her daughter's cottage, knocking lightly.

"Raya, dear?" she called after a few seconds of no response. Olivia tried again a little louder to no avail. After the third time, Olivia opened the door and walked into her daughter's completely empty and neat room. Olivia looked at her perfectly made bed peculiarly. It was awfully early for her to begin her day. Where was she?

* * *

"So you've never been to the United States?" Fitz asked as he and Raya walked along the trails.

"Nope. Mom and I go on vacations about once a year or so, but usually it's to places in Europe. We went to Japan though once!" Raya explained excitedly. Fitz frowned hearing that Olivia hadn't even been back to the US to visit. He hoped he hadn't ruined her that much.

"I don't think it was because of what happened between you two," Raya said, noticing his slumping posture. "She just didn't really have a reason to go back. Other than Abby who comes here to visit, she doesn't have anyone in America. She doesn't talk much about her father, and I had no interest in really meeting him so…"

Fitz chuckled slightly to himself, "yeah, troubling fathers is something that we were able to bond over…"

"What's your father like?"

Fitz stopped in the middle of the trail, hearing Raya's question.

"Oh I'm sorry, is he no longer alive?" Raya said apologetically. Fitz continued walking, he did say he would answer any of the questions she had for him.

"No he's still alive…to the best of my knowledge. I haven't seen him in about two and a half years though, not since my mom passed…but he was a pretty _controlling_ guy to say the least."

"Did my mom meet him?"

"They met a couple of times, they didn't get along all too well." Fitz put it as politely as he could. "It was his idea for me to go into politics with an endgame of becoming President," he continued.

"He was upset when you dropped?"

"Yeah," Fitz nodded, recalling the screaming fit he endured after he told his dad he was dropping so he could spend the final couple of months taking care of his mom.

"Are you upset that you dropped? Do you regret it?" The two were turning back into the resort.

"No, if anything I regret ever running and going into politics in the first place," Fitz let out a heavy sigh.

Fitz and Raya continued walking the main path of the resort, when they overheard Stephen and Abby nearby on the resort's tennis courts.

"Hey Raya, Fitz! How about a little doubles?" Stephen yelled out holding up his racket. Fitz looked at Raya with a raised eyebrow to let her know the decision was all hers.

"We probably should," she talked lowly, "to get them to be on a team together and closer. It'd be good of us, right?" she said referring to Stephen and Abby's continuing closeness.

"Definitely," Fitz nodded.

"Sure we'll be right there!" Raya called out, and they jogged toward the court.

"Alright, doubles. Fitz and I vs. you and Abby?" Raya suggested to a very appreciative Stephen.

"Sounds good to me, although I warn you I'm a little bit of a professional," Abby teased.

"Oh really?" Stephen scoffed.

"Yes really!" Abby retorted. "I played throughout college, you can ask Liv about it."

The teams sorted themselves on the court with Abby and Raya both taking the back of their respective sides and Fitz and Stephen taking the front. They played for a solid half hour, and Abby was not kidding when she talked about being a professional. She had them whipped after a half hour of playtime. They took all took a pause to catch their breath and grab some water, when Abby overheard Fitz talking to Raya on the other side of the court.

"If you don't mind, after this if you could help me talk to your mom…"

Abby's eyes narrowed. She couldn't believe Fitz would still have the courage to try to talk to Olivia after the stunt he pulled. Olivia had made it pretty clear since he first arrived that she wanted nothing to do with him. And Abby couldn't blame her. He hadn't seen her those first few weeks after he broke her heart. He didn't receive ongoing calls from a balling Olivia at four in the morning for weeks in a row. He didn't drop everything to fly out to Zanzibar and help her move on from her heartache, staying there for nine whole months to help her through one of the hardest times of her life . He wasn't there when she was. He had no idea the damage he did to her, and seeing him now, all smiling and giddy towards Olivia's daughter, trying to use her to get to Olivia made her sick.

"How about another round?" Stephen suggested. The group agreed and took back to their positions.

Abby took a deep breath, preparing her serve; using all of her concentration and force she could gather and struck the ball powerfully with practically perfect aim. Before Fitz could even react to the fast ball coming his way he felt it collide with his chest and hollered out in pain, falling to his knees.

"Fitz?!" Raya cried, running over.

"Are you alright, mate?" Stephen sprinted to the other side of the court to Fitz who was doubled-over in pain.

"I-I'm fine," Fitz wheezed, though his chest was throbbing.

Raya and Stephen helped Fitz get up.

"Sorry," Abby said somewhat sincerely, regretting how hard she had hit the ball. She didn't mean for it to be so forceful, but anger had gotten the best of her. Fitz glared back at her as he continued to hunch over and hold his chest.

"It's good," he muttered, trying to mask the pain with little success.

"Here, I can take him to the clinic," Raya offered to Stephen and Abby. Raya walked Fitz to the clinic and got him to lie on the examination table. "I'll be right back," she insisted before walking out. All Fitz could do was grunt in acknowledgement and stare up at the ceiling of the room for several minutes.

"Now, what happened?" he could recognize that voice anywhere, though she sounded slightly annoyed in tone, he still found it to be beautiful. He weakly lifted his head enough to see her.

"Your friend broke my chest with a tennis ball!" He complained whimisically.

"She did not break your chest…" she said annoyed. She approached him and helped him take off his shirt. When her daughter ran up to her and told her Fitz got hurt, she was ashamed to admit just how much fear rushed through her initially. She knew it was nothing serious after she heard the story, and scolded herself for how worried she became. She didn't care about Fitz. Why would she? He was a part of her broken and forgotten past. She hardly thought about him until he showed up, and honestly she didn't even find herself attracted him anymore, demonstrating how much progress she was able to make in the past 23 years. Even though she told herself all of that, she couldn't bite back the gasp she made once his shirt was off, seeing his body up close.

"Is it bad?" Fitz cringed, hearing and misunderstanding the reasoning behind Olivia's gasp.

"Uh…no…no…it's not that bad." Olivia put her hand against him. She could clearly see the red mark where the ball had hit on his left pec. She felt around the area to make sure nothing was broken.

"Ah! Ah! Careful!" Fitz grimaced. Olivia touching him was exactly what he wished for yesterday when he oversaw her with Jake. Normally he would have been ecstatic to have her hands on him, if only he wasn't in pain. "I think my ribs are broken." Fitz winced as she passed over them.

"Oh relax, you big baby. Nothing's broken. It's just a bruised pectoral muscle," she noted, feeling the tender area. Fitz slightly winced but became relaxed under her touch. "I'll go get you some ice."

No more than two minutes later Olivia returned with an icepack and a cloth for him. Fitz lied down, putting the ice against his forming bruise and sighing at the instant numbing relief it brought.

"You know, this bed is pretty comfy. Could I stay here instead of that doghouse?"

"First of all, no this is a clinic, and we need it to stay as a clinic, not your personal room. And second of all, it's not a doghouse, it's an old boatshed."

"It's pretty much a doghouse. It's about as big as one, and smells like it too," Fitz noted.

"You chose to stay there!" Olivia pointed out, getting annoyed. "If you didn't want to sleep on a hard floor you could have-"

"Oh no Livvie," Fitz interrupted. "It's not sleeping on the floor that has got me. Some of my best memories are from hard floors," he looked up smirking at her. Olivia blushed giggling to herself, recalling their night on his family's kitchen floor. Why did she let him see her laugh at his comments? This was what she was worried about: Fitz going back to his charming old self, the man that took her to the planetarium and kissed her under a thousand shooting stars.

"I'm just saying, it would be nice if I didn't have to walk a quarter mile anytime I have to go to the bathroom," Fitz finished his statement, bringing Olivia out of her thought.

"Yeah, well there are a lot of other resorts in the area. If you want to change and check out I can call – "

"Do you want me to check out?"

"What?" Olivia asked.

"Do you want me to check out?" Fitz repeated. "Do you want me to leave, not leave you alone, but actually leave?"

"Fitz, listen, whatever hotel you stay at, it's your decision. I don't really care."

"But you do care. You want to know what I think?"

"I really don't want to know what you think…" Olivia said, but Fitz continued anyways. He was feeling far more confident to address Olivia after the talk he had with her daughter the night before that gave him hope.

"I think you don't want me to leave. That no matter how hard you are actually trying to ignore them, you still have some feelings for me. And that's ok, Livvie, I have them too; I never stopped having them. I think you're afraid to act and pursue something, because you don't trust me, so you put up this toughness act to cover it. But Livvie, whatever happened in the past is over. It can be you and me now, the way it was always supposed to be." He looked up at her smiling wide as brightly as he could.

Olivia furrowed her brow. Who did Fitz think he was telling her what she should or shouldn't be feeling, telling her what she should and shouldn't be forgetting, telling her what it was that was meant to be? She was tired of dealing with his arrogant attitude, thinking that he could woo her once again after ripping her heart to shreds just because some time has passed.

"You want to know what I think?" Olivia stood up from her chair. "I think that you're lonely and horny, so you came here to get your way, because you're so used to always getting your way. I think that you came here with some kind of white knight complex that you can save me from this resort and bring me back to America like it's some sort of mission, because you can't seem to accept the fact that I'm happy here to be single and free-"

"Olivia, that's not why-"

"I'm not done yet!" she spoke up. "I think that you assume since you finally told your daddy off twenty years too late that I would just come running back to you, like nothing from the past mattered."

"I didn't mean-"

"Listen!" Olivia raised her voice. "I think that I was right from the start when I first met you and figured you were one of those privileged, wealthy boys, born to public figures with no backbone, let alone a sense of self."

Olivia glanced down at Fitz's swollen and bruised hand, and picked it up from the table roughly, making him cringe.

"And I think you're the reason why I found a hole in one of my supply closets this morning."

"I'm sorry about the wall," he said, rubbing his hand once Olivia let go, "I'll fix that, I promise. But the rest is… well, Olivia you were right. I messed up all those years ago, and you are exactly right on the person I was: wealthy, privileged, no sense of self. But I've changed Olivia. I've changed a lot in the past couple of years, and I'm still trying to. I'm trying to be a better person. If you gave me a chance, I can show you."

"You had 23 years to show me. This resort is all over travel sites online, if you wanted to find me you could have." Olivia had released a hint of her deepest secret, that for years she hoped to no avail that he would come to her, but on his own merits, not being tricked into getting invited. And with that Olivia stormed out of the room.

* * *

Later that evening Olivia found herself pacing back and forth in her office, as she past her laptop multiple times. She told herself she would never do it. She hadn't done it since he dropped out of the 2016 Presidential race, and she was proud that she never did. There was never a reason to after that. He pretty much disappeared from the public spotlight from what she heard from around. She knew it would be a slippery slope if she started. Eventually she gave in, cursing herself for doing it as she opened up her web browser and searched "Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III."

She scrolled through the articles, unsure of what he had been up to since 2016. She clicked on his Wikipedia page to read through it, feeling ashamed of herself for Internet stalking ex-boyfriends.

She noticed a tab on his page that she didn't notice before when she had searched him in the past, "activism." Olivia clicked on the arrow tab of the page to read more. She began reading the paragraph. Apparently he had started an organization called _Music Makes a Difference_ in 2017, a year after he retired from political life. Olivia hovered over the link attached to the organization and clicked on it to read what it was about.

_"Music Makes a Difference is a non-profit charity that provides music education to public schools in underprivileged areas throughout the United States." _

Olivia stopped to breathe after reading just the first sentence. She went back to his page and read more about his activism, receiving only a summary of everything he had been up to. Since retiring from the political world, Fitz had gotten involved a number of organizations including the _Innocence Project_ and the _#MeTooMovement_. Olivia found herself going down a rabbit's hole as she read article after article about Fitz's recent involvement in fighting climate change, his efforts to raise money for those affected by the mudslide in Brazil, providing aide to Puerto Ricco after their devastating earthquake.

She remembered many years ago on their first date when she had asked him what he wanted to do, and he responded that he wanted to make a difference. At the time he said that politics was best way to do so, though she knew there were other routes. It was clear to Olivia now, that he found a route that suits him, and finally was making a difference like he had always wanted.

* * *

"Hi thanks for meeting me here," Raya said, standing outside in their traditional meeting spot.

"Of course, but isn't it bad luck to see the bride the night before the wedding?" Zeke smiled at her.

"I'm willing to risk it, as long as we can take a few minutes to talk," she offered.

"I'm game," Zeke said, sitting down. Raya took a deep breath in, and went into the speech she had thought through all day.

"You were right. I haven't been communicating with you, and I haven't gotten you involved in the wedding, and I've been treating this like it's my own wedding, when it's ours. And I'm sorry. I know that as a married couple, we're going to have our ups and downs, which is why I think it's important we start to have these conversations now. I am going to try to be better, Zeke. I'll learn to communicate more and include you, but you'll just have to be patient with me while I try to figure it out. Relationships don't come easy. And growing up, I never really had one that I could look at for guidance."

Zeke warmly smiled at Raya and embraced her tightly.

"Raya, it is our wedding, but that also means that our families are coming together. So your dad…or dads," he corrected slightly awkwardly, "…aren't just yours, but they'll also be mine. And I want them there. I want them there for that; they deserve to be there for that. I know I can be rash and overreact at times, but I'll be working on that too. What I said yesterday, I didn't mean. I think we were already meant to be married yesterday," he said leaning into a kiss.

"I'm sorry babe, do you forgive me?" he asked.

"Last night I got some great advice that if someone love you enough, they'll forgive you, and I love you Ezekiel," Raya said softly.

"I love you too, Raya."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I hope you are all ready for an exciting chapter. This was by far my favorite chapter to write of this story. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

* * *

**Chapter 12**

*****Summer 2019*****

Olivia needed some fresh air to clear her head upon reading on Fitz's post-retirement activism. She didn't want to say she was proud of him, she didn't want to say she felt anything regarding him. Her daughter's wedding was tomorrow, and there was already so much on her mind, she didn't need Fitz to be on it also. She walked out to one of the docks on the beach to give her head a clear space to think, but was surprised to see a dark figure standing there also, looking at the sky.

"Stephen?"

Stephen turned around and cheerfully smiled at Liv.

"What are you doing out here?" Olivia asked. Stephen looked back up at the sky.

"Nothing really, I just came out here to look at the stars. You don't get a view quite like this very often," Stephen mused. "Anyway I heard reports about a meteor show that was supposed to happen tonight. It was suppose to be visible from all over the island, but I guess that's not happening now…"

Olivia smiled back at Stephen. Through it all, Stephen was a pretty good friend. The only reason why she tried to avoid him the past couple of days, was because she felt guilty near him after their final encounter in LA where she then upped and left, moving to Zanzibar.

"So I hear you're getting along with Abby quite well?" Olivia walked closer, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, why didn't she visit LA during that summer? If she had, I probably wouldn't have stayed hung up on you like I did," Stephen chuckled, but heard Olivia take in a sharp breath.

"Stephen, I want to talk to you about that…"

"Oh," was all Stephen could reply. He was nervous on what Olivia wanted to talk about. He realized this discussion would be on what happened 23 years ago, but he didn't know how this conversation would proceed. It was a bit of a sore subject for him as well, but something that he thought may have been long overdue.

"I'm really sorry," Olivia apologized, "for how I treated you. It was wrong of me, and I was so young and dumb at the time that-"

"Wait, what? Why are you apologizing?" Stephen asked perplexed.

"That night, 23 years ago, before I moved and came out here, when we… I just I feel like I used you and then I left and-"

"Oh my god, Olivia," Stephen brushed his hands through his hair, blushing at her apology. "You do not have to apologize to me, if anything I think I need to be the one apologizing to you."

"What?" she asked, being the one now perplexed and surprised.

"I knew where your feelings for me were, you made them very clear, but I still persisted. And then when I saw you heartbroken and vulnerable, I knew you weren't in the right headspace, but I-I took advantage of that. I've felt guilty about it ever since for making you leave. I've wanted to apologize all these years, because I knew it was wrong of me. And I am so sorry Olivia. I should apologize to you, you don't have to apologize to me."

"Stephen, you didn't make me leave, it was a collection of different things…you had done so much for me that summer, and I'll never forget it. But I left, and I didn't even give you an explanation let alone a goodbye after all the nice things you've done for me. You at least deserved that much, but I didn't tell you anything, and I'm sorry for that."

"That's alright, Olivia, I've forgiven you a long time ago," Stephen shifted his feet slightly coming closer to Olivia.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?" he asked her quizzically.

"That," she gestured by just pointing to him all in general, "how are you able to just forgive me after everything?" Olivia was fascinated by Stephen's naturally laid back and easygoing behavior. For years she felt guilt anytime she thought of him. She thought she had been the one who had taken advantage and then abandoned him, but as it turned out he had forgiven her for leaving without saying goobye.

"Well, because I love you, Olivia," Stephen said bluntly, "not like that, but I love you as a friend. You were my best friend during that time. We ere like two peas in a pod," Stephen reminisced on their forgotten friendship. "I made a mistake by kissing you that night when I knew I shouldn't have. And you forgive me for that right?"

"Well yeah," Olivia supposed she did. She was never really mad at Stephen to begin with but moreso mad at herself.

"And why was that?"

"Because I love you as a friend too Stephen," Olivia whispered softly, beginning to comprehend the lesson of life that was coming her way.

"You see, love allows for forgiveness. It's something my mother used to say," Stephen stated simply before walking toward the beach again, "well I better get ready for bed, it's starting to get late. Goodnight Olivia!"

"Goodnight Stephen!" Olivia called out. "And Stephen?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for just everything…" she watched Stephen smile as he made his way toward the villas.

Olivia was left with Stephen's words ringing in her ears, "love allows for forgiveness." Was that true? Could she forgive Fitz? Did she still even love him? For over twenty years she used every fiber in her body to convince herself that she hated him. After so long it had just become exhausting. She missed the Fitz that she fell in love with, but she had been tricked into thinking he the Fitz she fell in love with never even existed, but was just a façade. Through the years, she was certain he was long gone as part of Big Gerry's plan to replace his charming and caring son with a power-hungry politician. But now here Fitz was, encouraging her at the talent show and supporting her daughter, just like her old Fitz. Had it taken 23, 20, or hell even 15 years ago for the old Fitz to show up, she would have welcomed him back with open arms. She had dreams about it during her first few years on Zanzibar. And now she was acting like Fitz was a nightmare and punishing him, and he was tolerating her, and he didn't deserve that Olivia concluded. At the very least he deserved some forgiveness and not to be punished for something that happened 23 years ago. After a few more deep breaths Olivia left the dock and went to the boathouse.

Olivia crept toward the boathouse just to check on how Fitz was, but was surprised to see a hint of light coming from inside the shed. Olivia swung open the door, startling Fitz. She was surprised to see him lying on the floor with a notebook in front of him, reading, and using his phone as a flashlight.

"Fitz, what are you doing? It's nearly two in the morning?"

"Working," he stated, not even bothering to look up.

"In the dark?"

"Yeah, the light's broken."

Fitz heard Olivia's footsteps coming in and he closed his notebook quickly, tucking it under suitcase. He looked up at her, and she seemed different, a little warmer it seemed. He noticed she had a slight natural smile to her face, nothing that was forced.

"How about you stay in my room for tonight? You don't have to stay here."

"Really, Liv? I don't want to intrude…" he muttered.

"Really, it's fine," Olivia helped him off the floor, "you need to shower anyways, you reek like fish."

"Part of the boathouse experience," Fitz grinned.

"Well leave that experience here, because it's not coming to my room."

Fitz left his luggage in the boathouse shack, seeing as the scent of the boathouse had rubbed off on his suitcase and pretty much all his clothing, and followed Olivia to her cottage. He stepped inside and observed. It was different than the other ones. This one was made more to feel like a home, which made sense since she lived there full time. It had a kitchen area with a dining table followed by a small hall that had a bathroom and bedroom at the other end. The walls were painted neutral colors with nothing too extravagant or fancy.

"I like your place, it's very…you," Fitz chimed.

"Thanks," Olivia smiled back shyly. "The bathroom is down the hall to the left. There's a closet in the bathroom with a washing machine that you can use for your clothes, if you want."

"Uh thanks," he said, slightly startled by her generosity.

"I think I have some clothes you can wear, I'll check," Olivia said as she waltzed into her room.

Fitz went into the bathroom and undressed. It dawned on him just how unhygienic he's been since coming to the resort. Between swimming and playing tennis, and running through the woods, he really needed to shower; Liv was right. He stepped in the shower and washed off all the grime from the past couple of days, allowing himself an appropriate amount of time just relax in the shower with the warm water running down his back.

Olivia watched Fitz come out of the bathroom with a towel tied dangerously low on his hips. She felt her heart beat a little faster, seeing Fitz in just a towel. She quickly flinched trying to get her mind away from any kind of dirty thoughts. Sure she was allowing him to stay in her room, and she was trying to forgive him, but that was different from wanting him, and she did not want him.

"Here you go," she handed him a navy t-shirt and a pair of boxers.

"Are these mine?" Fitz thought they looked familiar, and was pretty sure they were his. He wouldn't tell her out loud, but secretly his heart was doing flips over the thought that she had taken his clothes and brought his clothes with her and kept them all these years.

"Yes, they are. I think they should still fit," she answered nonchalantly, acting like having his clothes was not a big deal at all.

"Thank you, Livvie," he said, going back into the bathroom.

Feeling tired from all of the emotions of today, and dreading the big day of her daughter's wedding tomorrow, Olivia crawled into bed. No more than about a minute later, Fitz came back out with his newly returned pajamas. He turned off the lights and took a spot on the floor by the foot of Olivia's bed.

"Fitz, what are you doing?"

"Oh…" Fitz popped his head up. "I thought that you wouldn't want-"

"Fitz, you're over fifty, you shouldn't have to sleep on the floor." Olivia was somewhat sarcastic, but also somewhat sincere. She recognized that they were no longer the young couple that they were in LA.

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted by that or not. In fact, just to prove you wrong, maybe I'll stay down here," Fitz teased.

"If that's what you want."

Fitz also recognized that he was no longer the young thirty year old that could have endured several nights on the floor. He was already feeling sore after his couple of days in the boathouse. Fitz got up from the floor and went to the side of the bed, slightly afraid to actually get in. Olivia shuffled further onto her side to create a bigger distance between them. Reluctantly Fitz pulled open the covers and crawled in.

Fitz stayed on his back breathing rather deeply trying not to think about the fact that he was sharing a bed right now with the love of his life. He needed to focus, he needed to sleep, and not let his mind go _there_. He turned his head and looked at Olivia. She was as far on the other end of the bed as she could be with her back turned away from him. Fitz let out a deep breath and tried to close his eyes. Clearly nothing was going to happen. It was just going to be a painfully awkward night.

Olivia curled herself up in a ball on the other side of the bed. She felt completely overwhelmed. Yes, there was the fact that Fitz was back in her life, and currently back in her bed. But then there was also the fact that tomorrow her little girl was getting married. Her whole life on Zanzibar had revolved around her daughter. Olivia didn't know what would happen now that she was all grown up. She didn't know who she was, or what she would do outside of the resort. What does one do when the only person in your life grows up? Her identity had been a resort owner and a mother, and she felt she was about to lose half of herself tomorrow. For the first time since she first arrived on the island, she felt alone.

"Livvie, are you okay?" she heard Fitz whisper. She reached up for her face and realized she was crying. She didn't realize she had even started, and was ashamed to be seen in this light in front of Fitz.

"I'm fine," she whimpered. "I'm sorry for waking you up, go back to sleep."

"Livvie, what's wrong?" Fitz turned toward her and lightly placed a hand on her upper arm. "You can talk to me."

"No, I can't," she sniffled, hurting Fitz's attempts to try and console her.

"We can do some breathing?" Fitz suggested. "Close your eyes and in-"

Olivia turned over, taking Fitz out of his counting.

"No Fitz, I don't need breathing exercises. My daughter is getting married tomorrow. She's growing up into an adult. And I don't know what I'm going to do after. I need…I need…"

"What do you need?" he asked.

"I don't know," Olivia cried. Fitz opened up his arms.

"Come here."

"No, Fitz."

"No funny business," Fitz promised, "I just think you want to be held."

Olivia sighed and shimmied her way to the center of the bed into Fitz's arms. She felt him wrap around her. She began calming down as she felt his hands rubbing smooth, caring circles around her back. She eased into his body so naturally, the feeling so distant yet so familiar like a memory. It was like she never left, like this was the way it had always been and was supposed to be. It was the way the things were supposed to me. Oh, Olivia thought, this whole thing was bullshit.

"I just…" Olivia mumbled, just under a whisper so quiet even Fitz had almost missed it.

"Hmm?"

"I just…I need tonight…" she whispered, and lifted her head, looking at him. Fitz bent his head and leaned down slowly, allowing Olivia to capture his lips first.

The kiss was slow and desperate, steadily turning more intense. Fitz was cautious, unsure of what he should be doing, but Olivia wanted more. She kissed along his jaw line and made her way down to his Adam's apple, while he tickled the tops of her ears.

"Liv?" Fitz lightly moaned, taken aback by the sucking sensation on his neck.

"Please?" Olivia asked, snaking her hand underneath his shirt. Fitz felt a stirring in his pants as her hands traced over his abs.

"O-Okay," he stammered and lifted his arms so Olivia could take him out of his shirt with ease. Olivia pulled the shirt over his head. Olivia stopped noticing the bruise on his chest, which was now becoming noticeably purple and deep. She places several kisses over it and felt Fitz jerk.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," she pleaded.

"No, it actually feels a lot better," he smiled, closing his eyes and letting himself absorb the pleasure of feeling Olivia kiss him up and down his chest and neck. He felt the friction of his member rubbing against the cloth of his boxers and knew he had to control himself. Luckily Olivia stopped right there after peppering him with kisses along his torse and laid down, dipping her head into the crook of his neck.

"I missed you, Livvie," he said, leaning in and kissing her. She pulled out of his lips.

"Really?"

"Mmhhmmmm," he groaned, as one of her hands traced down his front.

"I can tell," she stopped her hand just above his waistband where his excitement was clear for all to see.

"Olivia, maybe we shouldn't," he said biting his lip and trying to use all his strength to get himself to calm down. He immediately saw the hurt in her eyes, and wanted to ensure her that it had nothing to do with her.

"It's not you Liv, it's just…its just that…it's just...it's been awhile for me…a-a-and," he mumbled embarrassed.

"Oh Fitz," Olivia sighed, "how long has it been?" Her hand caressed him through his boxers, making his hips jolt.

"Livvie, do you really want to talk about this?"

"Come on Fitz. You don't expect me to believe it's been since '96. You've had kids with her," she said in reference to Mellie, "I'm not an idiot. What? Has it been since the divorce?"

"Since well before the divorce," Fitz let out another groan, feeling Liv's hand go slowly over him against his boxers again. The feeling of the friction from the cloth was immensely satisfying; he could feel precum soaking through the fabric as Olivia's hand kept swiping against him, side to side, up and down, massaging the area.

"How long?"

"I don't know. It's not important," he uttered, practically shaking to try and keep himself from cumming. He felt Olivia grab him through his boxers and he let out a cry of pleasure, he couldn't hold on much longer.

F-f-five! Five years, probably! Maybe a little more," he admitted. Olivia let go and he let out a sigh of relief as he managed to hold on a little longer than he thought he would.

"Five years?" Olivia asked.

"Five years," Fitz confirmed letting out a breath, "but I…never let her touch me…I couldn't let anyone else. I don't know if it was to respect you or just torture myself. So it's really been awhile since anyone…had…done…anything…" Fitz confessed turning red at his reveal.

Olivia looked down at Fitz's boxers, eyeing the massive tent that was pulsing through the fabric. She felt sorry for him. She knew he never actually loved Mellie and was trapped into that loveless marriage. While she had her share of escapades over the island, she was certain Fitz had endured a rather sad love life.

"So she never found the on-switch?"

"The what?" Fitz's looked at her as though she was crazy.

"The on switch," Olivia reiterated, "may I?"

She reached her hand inside of his waistband; Fitz squirmed feeling himself get worked up again. Olivia's hand stroked him quickly, making his fists clench at his sides. He had forgotten how much ecstasy sex could be.

"Livvie!...ohhh," he moaned, feeling his fully erect self pulse in her hands. He began to buck his hips going with her strokes. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but it felt heavenly. Olivia reached under and fondled him in her hands. He lost his breath at the feeling.

"The on switch it right around here," Olivia clarified, grazing her nails against the underside of his sac. Fitz felt all of his muscles spasm at the feeling of her nails on him and before he could give her any warning, came hard right there with a loud grunt.

"Better?" she asked with a glow in her eyes.

"Much," he replied weakly.

Fitz threw his head back on his pillow to try and get his breathing back to normal. He felt Olivia take off his boxers.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

"It's fine, these are yours anyways," she reminded him. "We'll put these in the wash too." She walked out of the bedroom to go to the bathroom and throw his clothes in and wash her hands.

Olivia came back to a still-panting Fitzgerald Thomas Grant, laying on his back, now completely naked and exposed to her. She got onto her side and closed her eyes to fall asleep.

"No," Fitz declared.

"What?" she turned to him.

"You're not going to sleep yet. Not until I…"

"Until you what?" she challenged him.

Whatever shyness Fitz felt when they started went completely out the window. Fitz kissed her vigorously, one hand running through her hair while the other into her shorts to massage her ass. Olivia moaned as Fitz's hand traveled up and around to one breast while he kissed his way down to the other.

"Oh Fitz!" she moaned far too loudly. He poked his head up and lowered one of his hands further down, taking her lips into his mouth again while his thumb massaged her bundle of nerves.

Olivia felt her nerves working up and her breathing hitch. God she missed this. Not this, she missed him. She could feel her orgasm coming, but wanted to stop it.

"Wait, kiss it!" she commanded.

Fitz didn't need any more instruction he ducked his head under the covers and pulled her panties down. He licked her core, sucking on the nub and flicking it with his tongue. He moved it in a circular motion, hearing Olivia pant and cry out for god. No sooner than thirty seconds later he tasted her juices flowing into his mouth.

Fitz came back up now completely re-aroused after witnessing Olivia's orgasm. He gingerly kissed her shoulders and up her neck.

"Livvie…" he moaned, into her ear, taking hold of her earlobe. Olivia was feeling the butterflies inside of her begin again. She was getting hot and wet once again.

"On your back," she instructed. Fitz complied and went straight onto his back his hands above his head. Olivia straddled his hips, making herself comfortable just above his cock. She felt Fitz's hips jerk as she glided over his member to align herself.

Olivia teased herself with Fitz's tip, generating a series of pleasurable groans from herself. She looked down and saw the hard look on his face, and she knew she had to act soon and couldn't tease much longer. She went down, filling her up perfectly like he always had.

"Need you to move…" Fitz mumbled with a contorted face of pleasure and pain.

"What was that?" Olivia teased.

Fitz grunted and thrusted his hips so hard Olivia saw stars. She followed his rhythm, thrusting slowly but powerfully. Fitz lifted his head just enough to take Olivia's nipple in his mouth, and with one more thrust she was a goner. Feeling her walls close in around his pulsing member as she cried out his name, Fitz threw his head back onto the pillow and released all that was inside him.

Fitz brought Olivia down to lay next to him. They came down from their highs together. The two of them tried to get their breathing back to normal. After a while of silence, it was Fitz who finally spoke.

"So, Zanzibar?" he asked, eying her.

"Someone once told me it was a really great place. I thought it would be a good spot to runaway to," Olivia said emotionless.

"That person probably thought that you'd run away with him," Fitz responded. He didn't sound angry, just hurt, and Olivia understood why. He had suggested they run away together, and in the end she went without him.

"Well that person also couldn't runaway because of other commitments to his career," she said, once again not displaying too much emotion, making it difficult for Fitz to read her.

"I know," he sighed sadly. The moment he walked back into the ballroom to give his speech instead of sorting things out with Olivia, he had committed to choosing power over love, and he was still living with the effects of that.

"Why didn't you come after me?" she whimpered, almost like a little girl feeling alone and scared. Fitz could now tell she was trying not to cry again, and honestly he was trying too.

"I didn't think you wanted me to…"

They paused for another minute, the night surrounding them. Here they were, two people helplessly in love, but afraid to try again, afraid of the hurt that it could once again create.

"I've known you were here for a while actually," Fitz spoke up again.

"Huh?"

"At the clinic earlier, you told me that if I wanted to find you I could have. I did. I've known you've been here for about 15 years. And I wanted to visit you. When you created a website for your resort I checked it out everyday to see what was new and hopefully see a picture of you on the site or something, just so I would know you were happy here."

"Everyday? You did not," Olivia jokingly scoffed.

"I did," Fitz reassured. "But there were never any pictures of you on the website. And I knew you wouldn't want me to visit, not when I was losing myself and turning into Big Gerry…And then my mom got sick, and I was trying to decide between staying in the race or helping her, and I wanted to call you and ask for your advice, but I knew that I couldn't."

Olivia stayed still, silently listening to Fitz as he shared everything on his mind.

"But I realized that I didn't even need to call you, because it was pointless. You already showed me the consequences of choosing power over love, and it's…it's miserable, Livvie." His voice croaked, struggling to hold himself together. He took a deep breath in.

"And so then I dropped, and I thought maybe now I can come and visit you, and maybe you wouldn't be mad at me anymore, after seeing me step away from Presidency and becoming myself again. But then mom died, and I had a lot going on there. And then I realized I couldn't visit you without getting divorced first, so I had to take care of that. The divorce was actually pretty quick and easy. Mellie didn't really care at that point since she was promised the White House and I failed her with my 'weak feelings.'" Fitz swallowed before continuing on.

"But then finally, there I was completely on my own, and I – I didn't know who I even was, Livvie. I had never been in control of my life…I didn't know who I was. And I knew I couldn't come to you as a shell of a person. I didn't even know if you were married or what. So I stayed a little longer to try and become the man I once was, when we first met - but actually no, I tried to become better than him."

"And then you created _Music Makes a Difference_?" Olivia interrupted his rant. Fitz perked his head up.

"You know about that?"

"You're a pretty public figure, Grant, it's easy to find out this stuff."

"Yeah," Fitz smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry about your mom," Olivia spoke up, "I thought about reaching out after I heard she was sick."

"It's ok, Olivia. You didn't have to. After the way my parents treated you, I don't blame you if you didn't."

"Your mom was nice though," she said, "from what I remember at least."

"Yeah, she was the nicer of the two, but still a partner in crime to Big Gerry," he reasoned.

"What was his reaction when you dropped out of the race?"

Fitz looked at Olivia with a hint of laughter.

"You remember telling me how badly your dad freaked out when you told him you were running off to LA?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Take that and multiple it by a hundred! I'm surprised he didn't murder me," Fitz and Olivia both laughed at the image of an irate Gerry, completely red in the face, screaming his head off.

Olivia wiggled a little bit, getting warmer against Fitz's side.

"Livvie?" his tone turned solemn, "Is she mine?"

That was the million-dollar question. The question she was trying to avoid this entire week from all three guys. She took in a deep breath.

"I-I don't know…" she whimpered, immediately clearing her throat.

"I don't know, and I hurt everyday not knowing," she repeated now tearing up again. Fitz wrapped her in his arms and held her tight.

"It's okay, Livvie. I'm not mad," he kissed the top of her head. "You did an excellent job raising her, Olivia. She's a great kid. I love her, no matter what."

Olivia cried slightly harder at Fitz's kind words. Eventually she turned her face up.

"It was her idea to invite you and Jake and Stephen. I had no idea."

"I know," Fitz told her. "I overheard her talking about her little plan with her fiancé. She's just like you, Livvie. Anyway, I know about that, but I don't think Jake and Stephen have really picked up on what's happening."

"Well, Stephen is a little too distracted right now with Abby to do be doing any critical thinking on his invitation and picking up any cues; and Jake, well, he's never been the brightest bulb."

Fitz laughed hysterically at Olivia's mocking of Jake.

"Yeah, I switched his sunscreen with moisturizer the other day," he laughed harder.

"Oh my god! That was because of you!" Olivia was cracking up over Fitz's antics.

"Hey Fitz, about that day," Olivia shifted her tone, "thank you for helping me with my stage fright back there. I appreciate it a lot."

"Of course, Livvie. I-I'm so sorry for what I did. I feel so bad,"

"Fitz, let's not discuss this-" she tried to intervene before this conversation got too heavy.

"I know, I know. But when I heard that you gave up pursuing your dream in music, I felt terrible. I wanted you to go on and become a famous singer or songwriter. And I let my father get into my head that you couldn't be a politician's wife and have career at the same time. I was terrified that I was going to be an obstacle for you achieving your dream, and I wanted to make sure that you did. And then to hear you gave up performing…you never got what you wanted…and there are a lot of things I'm sorry about, but I am the most sorry about that, Livvie."

"It's alright, Fitz. Dreams are sometimes just dreams. You didn't get the White House." She uttered, stifling a yawn.

"The White House wasn't what I wanted…" he muttered as Olivia fell asleep in his arms.

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**A/N: Ok so good news and bad news. Good news is well this is a good news chapter for our main characters. Bad news is I'll be wrapping up this story somewhat soon. There might be about 2-3 more chapters or so, but still a lot of plot left ahead, so don't worry!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you everyone for all the comments. I appreciate all of your feedback. I'm hoping this chapter can help explain a little more of the confusing feelings Olivia all of those summers ago. Also just as a heads up, we are now completely in the "present" (so summer 2019). There aren't any flashbacks in the next couple of chapters. So with that, enjoy!**

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**Chapter 13**

Olivia's eyes fluttered open from the rising sun. She had forgotten to close the blinds and was frustrated with herself for it. The comfort of her bed was warm, cozying her in a state of limbo over whether or not she wanted to go through the hassle of getting up out of bed to close the blinds and try and catch a few more hours of sleep, or just ignore the light and stay in her bed, uninterrupted. She glanced at the clock by her bedside, 7am. She could afford a few more hours of sleep she supposed, and she had a headache from her late night and was still exhausted.

While trying to remember the events that kept her up through the night, Olivia registered an arm, draped across her torso, and a warm body snuggled up beside her. Her breath hitched, turning and seeing Fitz, as all the events of last night came crashing back to her like waves against a rocky shore.

She slept with Fitz! How could she have done that? She didn't need this kind of emotional drama troubling her. Not now, not during her daughter's wedding. Her talk with Stephen caused her mind to open about forgiving Fitz, not about reconnecting with him. What was she thinking? She tried to evaluate the situation that took place last night. It was late. She was in an emotional state. She was upset. He was there. That was what happened, she was upset and he was there, she told herself. And now she felt ashamed for allowing it to happen.

Olivia moved Fitz's arms so she could scoot off the bed and put on clothes. She immediately saw Fitz stir in his sleep from her sudden absence.

"Livvie?" he mumbled in his semi-conscious state, his eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the light.

"Fitz, I'm sorry. This was a mistake…I didn't mean to…you should go."

Fitz's eyes shot open, afraid of what he was hearing. He lifted himself onto his elbows.

"Livvie, can we talk about what happened last night?" he said exhaustedly, his heart thumping in his chest that he was about to lose her again. He couldn't bear to lose her again. Yesterday he shared his side of what happened in the past, but they didn't talk about anything in regards to would happen in the future.

"Fitz, what happened last night was a mistake. I'm sorry. I was just not it a good place, and you were just there and-" she fumbled, looking for a way out.

"I was just there?" Fitz questioned, knowing that to her he was more than just a body. He couldn't believe she was belittling their chemistry to just being around in the right place at the right time.

"Fitz, my daughter's wedding is today. I can't deal with this right now. Please just go…" Fitz could tell from her voice that she was clearly in disarray and stressed out. He thought it best not to fight her at this moment. If he actually had a chance of getting back with Olivia, it would require him to pick and choose his battles, and right now was not a good time to get into one, not when she was this overwhelmed. He got out of bed and groaned, feeling the tiredness set in his bones. He walked behind Olivia and rubbed her shoulders in a soothing circular pattern.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," he tried to make her better.

Olivia began to tremble lightly. Fitz could feel her panic. He noticed shimmering coming off of her face, and realized she was crying again. Her light crying started to turn into sobs. Was she really this upset over her daughter getting married? Fitz knew it would be an emotional time when his kids got married, but he didn't expect sobs.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he whispered.

"You-you hurt me…" Olivia finally broke down in front of him. All the feelings she had held toward him that was disguised as anger shattered before him. Olivia suddenly stood as a frightened and sad girl, just like the recent college grad she was all those summers ago. Olivia cursed herself for allowing Fitz to see her this way. She had managed to be so strong the past couple of days, and now with her daughter getting married, all of these emotions just spewed out of her uncontrollably. It didn't help that Fitz was right there still holding her to make her feel better. Why did he have to do that and be so caring? It made it difficult to stay away from him like she wanted when he first showed up.

"I know…" Fitz replied broken-heartedly. "I know I messed up, but let me try to fix this now."

"No that was-" Olivia's breath caught in her throat, trying to say her next sentence. Despite her hard exterior that she put on daily, she was absolutely terrified by the idea of starting with Fitz again. She couldn't deal with another heartbreak like when she was in LA. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, it was just that she was petrified. "Last night, it was about forgiving you, it wasn't about getting another chance. I…that ship has sailed. I went too far last night, that one is on me."

Olivia stepped away from Fitz and tossed his clothes out of the laundry at him. "I need to start setting up for the wedding."

Fitz took his clothes in hand and quickly made his way out of Liv's villa, vowing not to get in her way and be a nuisance. He felt he had already caused enough trouble for her by showing up to see her, even if it turned out to be part of her daughter's antics.

He didn't really know what he was expecting in the morning. Last night really took him by surprise. It was just one surprising event after another until things escalated to the point that they were wrapped in each other's arms again. One thing was clear to Fitz though in that moment: though she wouldn't admit, he knew she still cared. There was hope.

Fitz looked at his watch. It was just half past 7, which meant the stores downtown would be opening soon. If he left now he could be in town at 8. He realized that there were some things he needed to pick up.

* * *

Olivia paced outside the villa back and forth, contemplating. She was just going to have to buck it up and go for it. This whole mission she was on was about forgiveness after all. She had to take what Stephen said to heart. She went to the door and knocked lightly.

"Jake?" she said, as he opened the door.

"Liv, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, is Stephen here?" she asked partially out of curiosity, and also she found Stephen's presence to be a pretty calming force for her. She really did miss having him as a friend.

"He actually never came back last night," Jake informed. Both of them gave off a little smirk, realizing the likelihood of where Stephen had spent the night. "I'll tell him you were looking for him though next time I see him.

"Wait, actually I came to talk to you."

Jake shot his eyebrows in some surprise. He and Liv had talked the past couple of days, but other than their one serious talk, it was mainly all surface level crap. He could tell that what she wanted to talk about right now was far deeper.

"What is it?" he shifted uncomfortably.

"I've just, I've been thinking a lot about that summer…and I want you to know that what happened between us, how things ended pretty poorly…you apologized earlier at the clinic, and I just wanted to tell you that I forgive you."

"Liv?" Jake questioned. "Liv, you shouldn't. I wasn't really the best guy then."

"But I knew you wanted short term, I knew you weren't looking for anything serious, I knew that you were a little bit of a player, and I feel like I held this remorse against you for it, even though I knew what I was getting into with you. And for that, I'm sorry."

"Liv, you shouldn't apologize. I should be apologizing to you for holding back when you were trying to have a healthy and meaningful relationship," Jake sighed. "Did it work out by the way? Did you have the relationship you were looking for with him?" Jake asked referring to the guy that Olivia told him about when she called things off.

"Fitz and I-" Olivia stopped, realizing that the words had just slipped out of her mouth.

"Fitz?!" At last all the pieces clicked into Jake's head. That would explain the strange and hostile relationship he had observed between them over the past couple of days. She and Fitz were also en item that summer. She left him for Fitz. Jake struggled to believe it. Fitz, his friend, his own Navy brother, pursued her, knowing that she was seeing him at the time. "Fitz was the guy?"

Olivia snapped shut, realizing that she had given information he was not aware of.

"He was…but it ended really quickly," she said, hoping to lessen any damage she may have created. Jake ran a hand through his hair.

"Sorry this is all new information to me…but I guess I should say that I'm not really surprised given how you two have acted towards each other," he scoffed.

"Jake, I'm sorry. I thought you already knew. I thought he told you at some point over the course of the last twenty years. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No it's fine. It actually helps me put things into perspective. Thank you, Liv," he replied blandly. And with that Olivia walked away in search of Abby. Jake knew he was partially to blame for his and Liv's relationship coming to an end. He was no boyfriend material, and he knew that his style of relationships at the time was casual, but he couldn't help but feel a slight sense of betrayal from the man he once thought of as his older brother. Fitz was the one person in the Navy he could trust. He always had a parental, big brother character to him that Jake admired. Having come from a pretty broken home, Jake admired him like an older brother, although it was now clear to him that Fitz had just played him like a fool.

* * *

"There we go," Fitz talked to himself as he put on the final touches of the patch he made on the wall to cover the ugly hole his temper created. He went downtown this morning to find a hardware store. He had promised Olivia he would fix the mess he made, and while the hole in the wall was only a superficial mess, it was a starting point. He put all the supplies back in the toolbox, and decided to leave it in the supply closet, in case Olivia ever needed to use it for other reasons at the resort. He figured it was a nice little gift. Proud of himself with the work he had done, Fitz returned to the boathouse.

He changed into a tank top and swim trunks, deciding to spend his day at the beach. He had spent so much time planning how to talk with Olivia that he hadn't really been able to enjoy any vacation time for himself, and it wasn't everyday he was on a tropical island. He grabbed his notebook and headed toward the beach. He found a nice lounge chair in the shade and plopped down, resting the notebook on his stomach. Fitz closed his eyes and felt incredibly tired, realizing that the total amount of sleep he had gotten since coming to the resort was within the single digits still. After days of restless nights, the exhaustion finally hit him, and hit him hard, as he quickly fell fast asleep.

Fitz must have been asleep for no more than five minutes when he heard a loud, angry scream.

"Fitz!"

No faster than he could open his eyes, he felt someone grab him by the collar and deliver a blow to his face. Fitz blinked rapidly, holding his hand up to his cheek to rub the sting away.

"Jake?" he muttered completely disoriented, "what the fuck?"

"It was you! You dated Liv!" Jake seethed. He wrestled Fitz to the ground in the sand. Fitz squirmed out from under him and flipped him over, pinning Jake down, surprising even himself since Jake was the younger of the two.

"What the hell is your problem?" Fitz yelled in confusion.

Just at the right moment, Stephen and Abby walked by. Stephen sprang into action, noticing the commotion occurring by the beach. Stephen always considered himself as a calming peacemaker, and thought it best to help. He approached the two to end the brawl that was ensuing.

"Whoa mate, off!" Stephen pushed Fitz off of Jake. "Now, what in bloody hell is this about?"

Jake got himself up off the ground and pushed Fitz back down roughly.

"He stole Olivia from me…" Jake huffed.

"I didn't steal her. She's not an object," Fitz said trying to get off the ground, but feeling rather weak. His chest was throbbing again and he had a massive headache. "She chose to be with me, and that was twenty three years ago. Get over it."

"Twenty three years…" Stephen whispered to himself. Staring at Jake who was wearing a Navy T-shirt, and looking at Fitz whose political career he was familiar with, Stephen finally made the connections.

"Navy boy?" Stephen uttered in almost disbelief, not having used those nicknames in over two decades. He turned to Fitz, "which means…Gatsby jr?" He hadn't realized that these were the other men from that summer.

"What?" Fitz shook his head in complete confusion. He was about to stand when he was struck again in the mouth by Stephen's fist, busting his lip.

"You asshole!" Stephen let out, punching Fitz again in the face. Stephen turned his attention to Jake, the Navy boy who he had heard so much about, who Olivia fawned over only to find out she was just another woman to him. He ran at him full speed, tackling Jake to the ground.

Fitz watched the two of them wrestle nearby, and used this distraction to try and escape. Using his remaining strength, he propped himself onto his hands and knees, but collapsed at the feeling of Jake and Stephen's combined weight which was now on top of him. He struggled beneath them as the three brawled in the sand, finally halting when they heard a large shriek.

"STOP!"

The men froze, looking up at Raya who was standing beside them, red in the face.

"What is going on?!" she cried.

"Raya, we're sorry we…" Jake stood up from the ground, unsure how to finish his sentence. Stephen followed suit and stood up.

"We lost control there. We're sorry, Raya. It's just…it's just we let some old romantic feelings bring out the dark side of us." Stephen tried to make sense of his outburst. He had never been a fighter, and he felt ashamed that Abby had witnessed a side of him he didn't even know he was capable of.

"Raya…this is going to sound strange, but we were all romantically involved with your mother," Jake said coming clean.

"I know!" she yelled.

Fitz rolled his head back. Of course she and he both knew. The real question Fitz had was how the hell it had taken Stephen and Jake so long to realize this revelation. From his peripheral Fitz saw Abby running with Liv toward them.

Great just what I needed, an opportunity for Olivia to see e getting into fights like some horny teenager, Fitz thought. He was ashamed and braced himself for the scolding that was to come. With a deep breath Fitz got himself off from lying on the ground onto sitting on his knees.

"You already knew?" Stephen asked Raya in a surprised tone.

"Yes…" she cried, starting to feel guilty for all the conflict she had created. This was exactly what Zeke had warned her about, and now it came to an eruption. She had the intentions of trying to have her dad come to her wedding, and instead all she had done was upset her mother and create unnecessary conflict. "I invited all of you guys here, because I-" Raya's voice caught in her throat. "-I wanted my dad to be at my wedding," she sobbed.

"I just wanted to meet you," she continued to cry, "but I didn't mean…I didn't think it would get like this. I just wanted to meet my dad before I got married and have him walk me down the aisle." Raya wiped the tears from her face. Olivia and Abby finally reached them. Olivia rushed to Raya, seeing her daughter cry and letting her motherly instincts take over.

"Raya, sweetie," Olivia hugged her and rubbed her back. Abby took Raya out of Olivia's arms and hugged her close.

"Liv, I can handle this. I think you should take care of them," Abby reasoned, eyeballing the three men. She knew Olivia was the better one when it came to scaring people straight. Abby wrapped her arms around Raya.

"Abby…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Stephen spoke shamefully. Abby ignored him and walked away, consoling Raya.

"What the fuck happened here?" Olivia yelled.

"I'm sorry…" she heard a low, weak whisper. Her attention was immediately brought to Fitz who didn't look good. He was bleeding from his lip and nose and his left eye and cheek were completely swollen.

"Fitz," she cried, full of genuine concern. She rushed to him and kneeled down to get on his level. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he nodded, and immediately grimaced from pain in his head that came from the movement. "Just dizzy," he concluded. She cupped his face in her hands.

"Try not to move your head too much," she instructed, worried he had a concussion. She helped Fitz onto him feet and provided support onto his side to get him to stop swaying.

"I'll deal with you two later," Olivia pointed to both Jake and Stephen.

* * *

"Ouch!" Fitz yelled. "That hurts!"

Olivia was cleaning the gash on his lip.

"It wouldn't hurt if you didn't yell and move so much," she replied annoyed by his complaining.

"I wouldn't have to yell if it didn't hurt!" he retorted before grunting in pain.

Olivia got Fitz's nosebleed to stop, and she was certain upon closer inspection that he didn't have a concussion or anything too serious, thank god. She handed him an icepack to help the side of his face that was swelling.

"Here, for your eye."

"Thanks," Fitz mumbled, placing the cold pack against his face. Suddenly Fitz realized he had left something and shot straight up. "Oh no!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"My-my notebook!" Fitz turned frantic twisting around, looking for it. "I-I-I left it at the beach. Oh my god, I don't know if it's still down there!"

"Fitz, relax it's just a notebook," Olivia said thinking Fitz was being way too dramatic.

"No, no it's not. It's really important!" Fitz jumped off the observation table, and stood much too quickly. The dizziness returned and he gripped the ends of the table to stabilize himself and ride out a wave of nausea that overtook him. Olivia immediately rushed to his aid and helped him back onto the table to lie down.

"Stay resting, okay. I'll get someone to go get it."

"It's really important Livvie, I need it now," he started to cry, shocking Olivia. She had never seen him like this. What could have possible been in the notebook that was so important it would make him cry if it was lost?

"Okay, I'll go back down to get it, but I need you to rest," she said, running a hand through his hair. Why was she suddenly so big on making sure he was taken care of? Olivia scolded herself. She didn't care about him…she didn't, right?

"Hurry…" he mumbled drowsily.

Olivia was about to walk out, which she thought was best for her sanity as well to put some distance between her and Fitz. She was stopped when Stephen and Jake blocked her in the doorway.

"We come in peace," Stephen said.

"What is it?" Olivia asked, sick and tired of all the drama and hostility from today. It was only the morning, and it already felt like it has been a week, and she still had her daughter's wedding in the evening. There was only so much she could handle at the moment.

"We need to talk," Jake said looking around the room, "all of us…about Raya."

"I'll say," said Abby as she walked into the doorway. "Don't worry, I finally got her to calm down, but this conversation needs to be had."

Olivia felt like the spotlight was on her, and not the kind of spotlight she preferred in her younger days when she was singer – no this was more of a headlight than a spotlight and she was a deer stuck in the middle of the road. The thing she had been trying to avoid all week, her three former partners wanting answers about her daughter, was facing her right now. She had spent so much time running from them, 23 years, but she couldn't run anymore. She felt cornered with no way out of this one.

"I…" Olivia began, "I…I don't know what to do next. You heard Raya. She wanted to know who her father was, so she invited you all here…and I guess maybe this whole mess is actually my fault…I should have been more open and honest with her when she was younger…" Olivia breathed heavily, fighting the urge to breakdown and cry.

"…I should have told her the truth…but the truth is I don't know…" Olivia stopped fighting as tears started to roll down her cheeks. One of her secrets that she consistently avoided was said out loud to an audience before her. "…I don't know who her father is…a-and I don't know if you guys want a paternity test or what, but she's an adult so you would have to ask her for permission, not me."

Olivia heard a small chuckle from behind her, and turned to see Fitz cackling lightly.

"A paternity test, really?" Fitz raised an eyebrow. He got up slowly from the observation table onto his feet, feeling steadier from moving slowly. He walked toward the others by the doorway, staring at Liv. She had already told him last night that not knowing Raya's father was her darkest secret that pained her almost everyday, and now the reckoning of that secret was upon them. He wanted to hug Liv and let her know that it was all ok, that she was ok, but given the company of Abby, Stephen, and Jake surrounding them, he thought better than to provide any physical comfort at the moment.

"Look I don't know about Stephen or Jake, but after everything, being on this island, at this resort, getting to know her…well, having even just a third of Raya is the greatest gift I could ever ask for." The crew remained silent for a beat until Jake chimed in.

"Being a third of her dad is great by me also…" Jake said, looking back up at Fitz and sticking his hand out. "No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings," Fitz shook his hand.

"I'll take a third as well," Stephen agreed. "I never thought I would have kids especially come this age, so being a third of Raya's dad is more than I could ask for."

"Well I'm glad that's all settled now…" Abby breathed.

"How is she? Is she ok?" Olivia asked full of concern after seeing her daughter in the upset state she was in.

"She's fine. I think she just felt really bad about the drama she caused. She didn't think anyone would get hurt by it, and she feels real guilty."

"That one's on me," Jake sighed. "I started the fight, that was all my own fault and not on her. I let my anger get the best of me back there. I can go talk to her and tell her if it will make her feel better."

"That would be real good, Jake. Thank you," Olivia dismissed, and Jake turned on his heels and walked away with Abby and Stephen following shortly behind him.

Olivia chuckled to herself.

"Hmmm?" Fitz hummed, curious to her sudden change from crying to laughing.

"Her whole life she wanted a father, and now in one day she gets three," Olivia laughed, amused.

"Seems like things are wrapping up nicely."

"You know, you didn't have to say what you said to make me feel better," Olivia said, crossing her arms.

"I didn't. I said it because I meant it. Having even a third of a child with you – as weird as that is to say without the proper context – is the greatest news I've ever gotten."

Olivia laughed at his comment.

"More than finding out you became governor?" she eyed him.

"Far more," he stated promptly.

"Come on governor," Olivia helped Fitz back to the observation table and got him to lie down. "Let's get back to resting."

"Livvie?" he looked up at her with pleading eyes again.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget. I'll get your notebook right now." Olivia hesitated a minute, looking at Fitz's bruised face. For however bad he had broken her heart all those years ago, he had really come through for her the past couple of days. He had been beyond supportive of her and her daughter, and she was thankful. She reluctantly caved, kissing him gingerly on the forehead.

* * *

"Abby!" Stephen called, chasing after her. "Abby wait!"

Abby froze, waiting for Stephen to catch up.

"What is it?" she asked annoyed.

"I'm sorry," Stephen panted. "I'm sorry for what happened back there for getting into a childish fight like that. It was wrong of me. I don't know what got over me there, but it was like I was this young and dumb twenty-something year old again."

"The same young and dumb twenty-something year old that's in love with Olivia?" she said, this time angrily.

"No, no," Stephen shook his head determinedly "I'm not in love with Olivia. I mean I love her as a friend, but that's it. That's why I don't know what got into me back there? Because I don't have feelings for her…I-I have feelings for you…" Stephen whispered, blushing at his own confession.

"What?" Abby gasped.

"I have feelings for you, Abigail Wheelan. When I first saw you in your villa my heart skipped a beat. A-and I know we've only known each other for a couple of days, and I'm probably going to sound insane…but…but I just got offered a job covering the New York music scene, and I would love to accept the job and then take you out when I have the chance…" Stephen smiled brightly, hoping to make amends of his past, spontaneous and distasteful behavior.

"I would like that Stephen," Abby smiled. She hadn't dated anyone seriously since her divorce, and she really liked being with Stephen these past couple of days. He was very charming and energetic, she liked his positivity and childlike wonder. She reached into her bag and pulled out a pen and an old receipt she had stuffed there.

"Here is my number. And once you're in New York, give me a call," she handed the paper to Stephen. "I mean it. I'm expecting you to call me right when you get off that plane, Stephen Finch!"

"I'll call right when I land," Stephen laughed.

* * *

It took Olivia about fifteen minutes to finally find Fitz's notebook. It was by the beach chair where he was lounging, but had gotten some sand kicked up over it from the recent brawl. She barely managed to see the spirals of the notebook coming out from the ground and pulled it out of the sand, using her hands to try and brush off as much sand as she could from the cover of it. Olivia returned to the clinic to hand it back to Fitz and to check on him, but was greeted with soft snores.

Olivia put the notebook down on the counter and went to look at Fitz who was fast asleep. She ran her hand through his curls, eliciting a soft and peaceful moan from him while he remained in his slumber. She continued running her hands through his hair, soothing him into a deeper and deeper sleep, feeling sorry that he had gotten hurt because of her. She thought of getting more pain meds for him from the cabinet for when he woke up and waltzed back over to the counter. Olivia stopped, staring at the notebook. She wondered what was so important in there that the very thought of losing it was enough to make Fitz cry. She knew she shouldn't – it was probably personal; she would have been wrong to look in it. Curiosity got the best of Olivia however, and she opened it to reveal its contents, which brought her to tears.

Fitz quickly awoke, hearing the sound that he could recognize anywhere. It had followed him in his nightmares for years. He was convinced it was another incident of a bad dream, but as his eyes adjusted to the light and his mind became reoriented, he realized Olivia's cry was real and right in front of him.

"Livvie?" he lifted his head groggily and worried. "What's wrong?"

"What the hell is this?"

* * *

**A/N: Hopefully Olivia will agree to giving Fitz another chance now that she has seen the lengths he will go to make sure she is okay. Well Jake and Stephen are all caught up, and it looks like all the secrets are out now, except for whatever is that Fitz has been obsessing over. Anyone have any guesses on what could be in the notebook? **

**I've almost finished writing the story. Before I even started I had a pretty decent outline of how I wanted everything paced. And while I know it's always sad for a story to end, I also don't want to drag it on past what it needs to have satisfying end. And I'm hoping you all will be pleased. But don't worry, there's still more excitement to come!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Magazine clippings. Magazine clippings of the article from her interview all those years ago taped into the pages of the notebook.

"What the hell is this?" she asked sniffling back tears, upon reading the article about herself that she never even got to read since it was published after she left.

"A magazine article," he swallowed nervously and slowly, unsure of how to recover from her discovery. He didn't want anyone to see that he kept that magazine article from over twenty years ago. He ensured that the notebook was hidden from his family and Mellie for years, and now for the first time his notebook was being seen by eyes that were not his.

"I know that," Olivia said dryly. "How do you have this?"

"It came out about a week after you left," he replied monotonously, he knew she was going to ask for an explanation at any minute, and he was trying to think how the hell he could provide her with one.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure, that's just when it was published," he said, though he knew that that wasn't what she was actually asking about.

"No," she retorted laconically. "Why do you have this? Why do you have this after so long? And why the hell did you bring it with you?" Olivia grew a little angry. Was this some sort of trick that Fitz had? To try and remind her about how she used to want to be a singer. She thought she made it clear that that was a sore subject for her last night when she told Fitz to stop apologizing for inadvertently causing her give up singing. It was a dream, but just that – a dream. And now here he was with a physical reminder of the time that she reached her peak, almost making it to stardom, as if he was rubbing it in her face and mocking her.

"Is this some sort of joke to you? Do you think that showing me this article would make me go back to LA after 23 years?" Olivia was on the attack when Fitz failed to answer her previous questions. He looked down at the ground and shook his head.

"No…I don't expect…well anything," Fitz replied. "I didn't expect you to see that. You weren't supposed to see that, no one was." Fitz answered honestly, but nervously. He knew a long overdue conversation was going to need to happen. Last night had gone well, but that was only the surface. There was still so much more to say that he wasn't even aware of until now.

"Why did you bring it here with you if it's so valuable to you and so private?" Olivia recalled seeing Fitz with the notebook at various points throughout the past week. He was attached to it. After seeing him get so worked up over the very thought that he may have lost it after leaving it at the beach, she started to believe that his heart was in the right place.

This wasn't a cruel joke like what she immediately thought. But she was still confused as to why he carried this old magazine article with him everywhere.

"I bring it with me everywhere," Fitz explained. His voice was quiet filled with a touch of embarrassment, and perhaps some kind of slight shame if Olivia had to guess. He avoided her gaze, remaining fixed on the floor. Olivia wasn't sure if he was ashamed to seemingly still be hung up on her, or ashamed that he was caught with this secret.

"Stop," Olivia scoffed in slight annoyance, but also slight amusement, "no you don't."

"I do…" Fitz muttered in the same slightly shameful tone. "I…" he trailed off, not wanting to continue.

"Fitz? What is it? Will you tell me why you bring it with you everywhere?"

Fitz's face flushed a shade of red brighter than she had ever seen before. She could hear him swallow a lump in his throat.

"You're going to think I'm a creep," he uttered quietly before continuing. "I read it whenever I get stressed and need help."

Olivia raised an eyebrow at him, unsure how the hell an interview about her life could help him with whatever stressors were in his.

"Well when I first got it, I read it every single night before bed…out of Mellie's watch of course. When I realized you left LA, it was the only thing I had left to connect with you…Well, that was what I told myself. I told myself that I was reading it each and every night to connect with you, even if it was just some magazine article, but that wasn't it…" Fitz took a deep breath, recognizing a truth that he didn't even admit to himself until right now. "…I actually read it because I was insanely jealous of you, Liv."

"What?" Olivia choked out in disbelief. At the time of that interview she was barely getting by with whatever money she could get from gigs that were spread by word of mouth. She didn't have any family to rely on, and her closest friend was on the other side of the country. Fitz had his whole life in California, and a luxurious life at that. Money was never a concern for him, and if he needed, he had multiple trust funds set up in his name. How could he be jealous of her? Clearly he was delusional.

"You were jealous of me?"

"Well now, don't say it like it's so hard to believe." Fitz playfully smirked.

"It kind of is. You had millions of dollars to your name, your family had a private jet, you had like four houses-"

"You had courage," Fitz interrupted before she could go on listing all of the Grant family's assets. "And it's written out clear as day in that article. You talked about how your father was expecting you to be a lawyer, but you were tired of following along with everyone else's expectation of what you should be doing. And-and I remembered you telling me on our first date about how at some point you have to break away from what your parents want out of you and do whatever it is that will make you happy…" Olivia listened as Fitz continued on, rambling with more rapid speed.

"And damn it, Liv, I was so jealous that you were able to do that, and I couldn't!" Fitz had to stop to take a breather before getting too emotional.

"I'm sorry if it seems like I'm angry. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself. I could have told Big Gerry off years ago! I should have. I should have told him off the minute I got back from the Navy to tell him I was done with him." Fitz chuckled a little to himself, "you remember when you told him off? The day we first met…"

Olivia nodded, getting closer to the observation table and taking a seat next to Fitz.

"Yes, I remember," she ran her hand through his curls at the side of his head, making him purr audibly and lean into her touch. "I remember everything about our time together…"

"That was when I fell in love with you," Fitz admitted. "I know I said it after our first time together, but it was actually then. I saw how badass you were, taking on my father head-to-head -which is something I had always wanted to do - and then leaving him speechless, which for a US politician is pretty hard to accomplish."

Olivia laughed at Fitz's joke, making him glow with some optimism. There was another moment of silence between the two of them. Fitz cleared his throat, and stared into Olivia's eyes, bringing him back to that day of his welcome-home party.

"That was the moment I started loving you, but I never stopped, Livvie."

"Fitz…" Olivia felt tongue-tied at the moment.

"I still love you, Olivia Pope," Fitz repeated far more sheepishly. "I know I messed up and lost your love all those years ago. But I guess coming here, I was just hoping I could see that you at least didn't hate me anymore." He heard Olivia let out a gasp.

"Why would you even say that?" Olivia inquired, angry that he would assume such a thing from her. "I could never hate you."

"I-uh, I mean you left without telling anyone and moved halfway across the world to get away from me. I thought that…I don't know…those actions just seem a little too intense for just 'strongly disliking' someone." Fitz explained, using air quotes around "strongly dislike."

"That wasn't it," Olivia shook her head and chewed her bottom lip. She was having an internal battle of whether she should proceed or end the conversation. It didn't help that the heat of his blue eyes were fixated on her. She felt her head rushing with thoughts on whether or not she could be as honest to him about her emotions as he was with her.

"When you left me to go give your speech, you made it pretty clear you were going to follow the political path that everyone set up for you-"

"Livvie, I know…and I can't even begin to describe how sorry I a-"

"It's not that," Olivia cut him off. "I never hated you, not even after that. I couldn't hate you, no matter how hard I wanted to, and that was the problem."

Olivia took a deep breath, now having Fitz's complete attention and silence.

"That was why I left. I couldn't stand to continue on and watch you become Governor of California, not because I hated you, but because I somehow was still in love with you, and it would have just hurt too much. I would have gone back to the East Coast, but Gerry's endgame was you winning the Presidency – which for the record, I think you totally would have accomplished. And if you became President, then that meant seeing you just about every single day. I couldn't handle waking up everyday and seeing you on the news, so I needed to go away, but it wasn't because I hated you, it was because I loved you. That was why I chose to come here of all places," she said speaking about Zanzibar.

"I understand," Fitz replied. It was definitely a different perspective he had never thought before, and it made him feel slightly better. He wasn't going to lie though, hearing Liv use the word "loved" in the past tense stung him.

"I didn't become President though, because of you," he spoke softly. Olivia gave him a look. She wasn't sure if that statement was accusatory or not.

"The article," Fitz noted. "After I got over my jealousy of you, I would read it whenever I felt stressed and needed advice. It was reassuring for me of my decisions, even if they were unpopular by some, and gave me courage to continue with whatever choices I made."

"When your were deciding whether or not to drop out?" Olivia put her hand on his knee, which they both noticed was scraped from his earlier brawl. Olivia hopped off the table to find a Band-Aid and Neosporin for him.

"Yeah… I must have read that article about twenty times before calling Cyrus to tell him," Fitz reminisced. Olivia walked back to Fitz and placed the Band-Aid over his scraped knee and handed him the additional pain meds she had left on the counter. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Olivia hopped back onto the table next to Fitz.

"So my words are what encouraged you to give up the most powerful job in the world…" Olivia mused. "I'll admit I was surprised when I heard the news over here. I thought it was clear you were going to win whenever you decided to run, and that was part of the reasoning for me leaving the US in the first place."

"You're not mad at me for dropping out, are you?" Fitz's voice cracked once again, this time with nervousness. After learning that Olivia had moved based on the assumption he would one day be President, and then he just dropped out, he was worried that he may have let her down. "I didn't mean to disappoint you."

"Hmmm?" Olivia looked back up at him.

"By breaking us in order to follow through with this dumb plan, and then not even carrying it through all the way. I feel like it just makes everything that the two of us went through seem worthless in the end. After you completely upped your life for a second time, this time moving an entire ocean away while pregnant, you mean to tell me that you're not the slightest bit ticked off that I didn't even follow through to be President?"

Olivia cupped his face carefully, mindful of his bruised cheek.

"I understand what you're saying, but if you carried out Big Gerry's plan and became President, you'd be in Washington right now, serving out your term, instead of here." Her words made Fitz gleam with joy.

"So you don't want me to check out and go to different resort?" Fitz grinned, making Olivia give out a light chuckle.

"No…you were right yesterday, I want you to stay here, because I-" Olivia paused for a moment, trying to blink away some tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. She couldn't believe what she was about to say. She hadn't confessed her biggest secret to anyone, not even Abby. "-Because I still love you. I still love you too."

Tears that had somehow come out despite her best efforts muffled Olivia's whispers. Fitz choked on his own breath in slight disbelief of her most recent admission. Though he felt like he was going to cry soon, he took to consoling Olivia.

"Sweet baby, it's okay, I love you too. I love you so much." Fitz embrace Olivia in a tight hug, rubbing circles on her back. He remained holding her in his arms for a long while, losing track of time. She smelled like roses and he found it to be extremely soothing to just close his eyes and breathe in her scent. It wasn't until Olivia felt the heaviness of Fitz's head on her shoulder that she realized he was falling asleep. She remembered that they both had gotten very little sleep from the events of last night, and she was feeling tired too. She could only imagine that the fight he got in and the painkillers he took only tired him out more.

"Fitz?" she shook him gently and pushed his weight off of her.

"Hmm? What? – Oh, sorry…" he blinked his eyes rapidly awake.

"How are you feeling, really?" she asked him.

"I'm fine. Just really tired," he told her, and as if on cue, produced a giant yawn.

Olivia checked her watch and saw that it was just past 11. Her daughter's wedding wasn't until 8, and she had just over six hours to kill before she had to start getting ready and making sure everything was in place.

"Do you want to get yourself cleaned up and sleep for a little?" she asked. Fitz nodded a response and she helped him off of the observation table and back to her villa.

She drew a bath for the two of them. Fitz was still a little sandy, and she thought the warm water would do them both well to relax. Normally bathing together would involve a number of other activities, but they were far too tired to engage in anything remotely sexual. After sitting in the warm tub for a solid ten minutes in silence, they got out to dry off and made their way to the bedroom. Fitz was still unclear on where he and Olivia stood at the moment. Yes, they both confessed to having feelings for each other, but there was no talk about whether or not a relationship between them was realistically in the future, and he didn't want to push her into anything she wasn't comfortable with.

"Livvie, I can take the floor if you want me to," he reminded her again. Olivia was once again washing his clothes from today, and all he had was the towel wrapped around his waist. He didn't know if sleeping in her bed naked was something she would be okay with in their current state.

"Just get in the bed, Fitzgerald."

He didn't need to be told twice. He removed his towel and pulled back the covers, getting comfortable and already half asleep as he watched Olivia drop her robe and approach the bed. Rather than coming in on the opposite side and laying on the other side of the bed, she came in from the side Fitz had gotten in.

"Scooch," Olivia directed Fitz to move toward the center. He was confused on why she didn't just come in from the other side of the bed, until he realized that she was following him to the middle of the bed and snuggled up beside him in the center. Reluctantly Fitz wrapped protective arms around Olivia, sighing with relief when he didn't feel her body tense up at all from his actions. He laid his head back deeper into the pillow and pulled Olivia closer beside him.

"Livvie," he mumbled, kissing the back of her neck in a dazed state, "what are we doing?"

"I don't know, Fitz. There is no plan with this one."

* * *

Eventually the alarm went off, waking Olivia and Fitz up from their restful afternoon.

"Hi," he smiled cheerfully.

"Hi," Olivia replied naturally as though waking up to him was the most normal thing in the world. Olivia turned over, pecking him quick on the lips.

"I have to go start getting things ready. How about you rest for another hour or two?" Olivia suggested as she got out of bed.

"You promise you'll wake me up before the wedding?" Fitz wouldn't want to miss this for the world. It was all too crazy for him still. Just last week he was in Santa Barbara anxious over the reasons Olivia would invite him to Zanzibar, not knowing it was actually Raya, not even knowing who Raya was, and now here he was in Olivia's bed, getting ready for their daughter's wedding.

"Promise. You've got something to wear?" It dawned on Olivia that Fitz, Jake, and Stephen had absolutely no knowledge of a wedding when they booked their travel arrangements.

"Yeah, I brought a suit. The invite we all got said to bring at least one suit because of a formal dinner that takes place at the resort at every Friday night."

Olivia rolled her eyes. Her daughter really had thought of everything. They never had fancy formal attire dinners at the resort. That was smart on her for thinking and coming up with that.

Olivia put on some clothes and leaned over to give Fitz another kiss on the side of his head, "I'll be back," she said before slipping out.

Right when Olivia left her cottage, she was immediately greeted by her daughter running toward her.

"Hey, is Fitz okay?" She was genuinely full of concern and guilt. She didn't imagine that the situation would escalate to the way that it did. Jake had come to her shortly after to tell her that she was not to blame that he had just let his anger get the best of him, but she still felt responsible.

"He's fine, sweetie. He's just resting," Olivia responded, nodding over toward her villa behind her.

"In your room?" Raya asked a little questioningly. Raya knew that her mom still had some feelings for Fitz. She could tell from how she was acting, but she didn't imagine that she would allow that this early on in their reunion. Honestly Raya thought it would take far longer, and was already planning future arrangements to get Fitz to visit the resort again after her wedding. She was already thinking of ways to fix her mom up with him again under the belief that her mother's hard exterior towards him would remain past the wedding. But it looked like she was wrong, and wouldn't have to come up with some elaborate scheme like she thought.

"He's…he's just resting," she reassured her. That was the truth, he was resting right then, and her daughter didn't need to know that the night before he was in her room as well…not "just resting."

"Okay, okay," Raya backed off, not wanting to push her mother too much after such a stressful morning. "Will you help me get ready?"

Olivia looked at her daughter. These were going to be her last couple of hours with her as her baby girl, and she wanted to spend as much time with her as she could.

"Of course."

* * *

Olivia stood in her daughter's room. They were both dressed for the wedding, with their hair styled and their makeup mostly done. Olivia was working on the final touches of Raya's makeup when her daughter asked her a question.

"Hey mom..."

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I'm feeling a little scared. Is that normal?"

Olivia sighed and cupped her daughter's face before planting a kiss on her head.

"Of course it's normal. This is a big step in your life, it would be abnormal if you weren't scared," she reassured her daughter.

"How do I know if I'm making the right decision?"

"Hmmm?" She asked, putting the makeup brush down and looking at her.

"I mean I love Zeke, I do. But what if later on he gets second thoughts, or I get second thoughts? How do you know that you want to spend your entire life with only one person by your side? And how do you know when you find that person?

Olivia took a deep breath. What a loaded question…but a good question nevertheless.

"I think you're asking the wrong person," Olivia smiled.

"Come on, mom," Raya urged slightly desperate for a real answer, "you've never even felt close to wanting to marry someone?"

Olivia answered, thinking how best to describe the feeling to her daughter, "I guess you'll know because you can just feel it. That's probably not the most specific of advice but…" Olivia trailed off, putting the makeup brush down on the counter.

"You'll just feel like, well…the world is a crazy and terrifying place, but everything makes sense when you're with them, everything just feels right. They make you want to be your best self, and just be a better person in general. And even though they make you a better person, you'll still mess up, but that's okay, because they'll love you at your absolute worst still. And when you go to bed each and every night with them, you get this weird feeling in the pit of your stomach that's a combination of gloom because your day with them is coming to an end, but also exhilaration, because you know that tomorrow when you wake up, you'll get to spend a whole new day with them, and then another, and then another. It basically hurts to even imagine a life in the future without _Fi-Zeke!_"

Olivia stopped abruptly catching her tongue. She corrected herself quickly, hoping her daughter didn't notice the Freudian slip that escaped her lips. She thought she was fast enough, and thanked the lord that her daughter had no change in her facial expression from that little slip up. She would have if she noticed, Olivia thought.

"Mom, would you get married?"

"Honey, it's your wedding day, we should be focusing on you!" Olivia pressed.

"I know, but if you met someone, someone that made you feel exactly like how you described, would you?" The slip up did not go unnoticed by Olivia's daughter.

"Um well, uh…I guess, if the right person asked." Olivia wanted to pivot the focus away from her. "What has got you asking all these questions?"

"Just the nerves I guess," Raya replied. "Mom, I know you never got married, but have you ever felt this scared about a big step in your life?"

Olivia nodded and squatted down to get onto her daughter's level who was sitting in a chair.

"When I first found out I was going to be a mom, I was absolutely terrified. My mother died when I was young, and I had no idea what I was doing. I was basically just a child myself." Olivia stroked her daughter's cheek, "I remember being terrified because I had just moved here, and it was a lot, and I was going through this transition alone. But then I had you, and I realized how silly that was, because I had you; and once I heard you cry for the first time on that day, I knew I wouldn't be alone as long as I had you in my life."

Olivia wiped away tears from her daughters' eyes.

"Mom…" Raya whimpered. "Mom, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…"

"For what?" Olivia asked, gripping her daughter tightly in a hug.

"For inviting Fitz, and Stephen, and Jake, and not telling you about it. I should have told you. You've always been such a great mom, and I just went behind your back," Raya cried.

"Don't be sorry, Raya. I am so sorry that I never told you about who your father was," Olivia began crying as well, joining her daughter in the tear fest. "I didn't know, and I was so ashamed by it. I felt so bad, so I never brought it up. I thought I let you down. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Forgive you?!" Raya asked her mother in disbelief. "I was never mad at you to begin with! I don't care if you slept with hundreds of men. You're my mom, and you've always taken care of me no matter what, and I love you. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, sweetie, I'm not mad either," Olivia cried, and pulled out of the hug, wiping her eyes clear. "But uh…just for the record…I-I haven't slept with uh…hundreds of men…" she said awkwardly, making Raya laugh.

"The whole plan was to find my dad to walk me down the aisle…but I don't even care about that anymore. That was so stupid. Mom, will you walk me down the aisle instead?"

Olivia's face beamed with glee and pride. Of course she would walk her daughter down the aisle. It would be an honor.

* * *

**A/N: I am sorry to say that this story is going to be coming to an end in a few days. I have about one chapter left which will also act as the epilogue as well. I plan on finishing it up and uploading it this weekend. I am so thankful for everyone who has enjoyed reading this story. Thank you for all the support. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 (Final Chapter)**

The wedding was minutes away at this point, and the guests were all taking their seats. Olivia finished getting ready and approached her daughter who she found outside of the courtyard, talking to Fitz.

"What are you guys talking about?" she inquired.

"Nothing," Raya said, turning back toward her mom.

Olivia looked at Fitz who looked far better and well rested. He looked good in a suit, and the swelling of his face looked like it had gone down. You couldn't even tell that he was just in a fight.

"Raya was actually just finishing doing my makeup," Fitz smirked.

"You're wearing makeup?" Olivia laughed. That explained it.

"I just wanted to look good for the pictures…I may no longer be in politics, but that doesn't mean I stopped my self-obsessed vanity, Livvie," Fitz laughed. Olivia laughed along, naturally gravitating towards him when they saw Jake, Quinn, Abby and Stephen approaching the courtyard as well.

"Well, I'm going to go take a seat. I'll leave you two alone until its starts." Fitz walked away from them and joined the others, walking into the center of the courtyard where the ceremony was being held. Olivia was happy to see Fitz join the others instead of succumbing to the brooding loner he was acting like when he first arrived. Olivia hugged her daughter until they heard the Bridal Chorus play.

Olivia took her daughter's arm and began walking down the path of the courtyard that was cleared for her. Olivia looked around at all of the attendees. There were Zeke's family and friends, and Olivia's friends who she had made from her own time in Zanzibar. She caught wind of her old friends and saw Abby, Stephen, Jake and Fitz sitting together toward the front. She briefly exchanged glances with Fitz and smiled. She glowed inwardly thinking that even if she wasn't sure who Raya's father was, she knew for certain that he was at least witnessing this milestone. Raya and Olivia reached the end of aisle, and stood beside Zeke and the priest who was conducting the wedding.

"Dearly beloved-"

"Wait!" Raya called out before the priest could even begin to speak another word. "Let's not get married, Zeke." Raya announced, gaining an insanely loud gasp from the entire audience.

"Let's not…what?" Zeke uttered in completely taken aback by Raya's outburst.

"Raya…" Olivia questioned, staring at her daughter.

"Zeke, we're still so young. I know you wouldn't admit it, but I could tell that you never wanted this, at least not yet. Let's not then…we can just wait! Let's just go away and get off this island and explore the world. We still have our whole lives ahead of us!" she rambled.

A look of relief flooded Zeke's face. He and Raya had always been on the same page ever since they started dating when they were 16. With the wedding approaching, the reached little bumps within their relationship. Nothing major, but still terrifying since they had never experienced that before. He recognized that they still had work to do, and could feel a wedge building them as he noticed that their were more frequent disagreements. But seeing Raya right now, call off their wedding, confirmed to him that they were once again right on the same page.

"Okay," he smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too!" Raya turned her neck upward to kiss him.

"Wait a minute," the priest paused with the astonished congregation still staring at the site before them. "So no one is getting married?"

"I…I guess not. Raya?" Olivia replied in disbelief that the wedding had just gotten called off moments before.

Raya could tell there was some slight disappointment in her mom's eyes, not because she had just called off the wedding, she knew her mom would support her on any of her life choices, and she could already tell that her mom was behind her on this move. But she seemed upset given the lengths she had gone to plan a perfect wedding for her, and Raya felt bad.

"Well wait a minute," Raya called out, "why waste a perfectly good wedding, when we have everything we need right here…Fitz?"

Raya's head, along with every single person's in the crowd, turned toward Fitz who shifted uncomfortably in his seat with all eyes on him.

"I-I-I…w-what?" he asked completely confused and panicked.

"Come on, you told me that you wished you could marry my mom just before the wedding started," Raya told Fitz.

"I did?...I mean I did, but I didn't mean…I mean I meant….I….uh…Livvie?" Fitz looked to Olivia hoping she could speak up right now and end the insanity unraveling before the entire courtyard.

"It's alright, she basically said the same thing about you when we were getting ready!" Raya cheerfully announced. Olivia snapped her head at her daughter for her big reveal.

"Raya!"

"Livvie?"

"Fitz?" Olivia turned her attention to Fitz who was coming out of his seat and approaching the middle of the aisle.

"Oh this is all bullshit," Fitz uttered, opening his arms wide as he stood in the middle of the courtyard. "How 'bout it, Livvie? You're going to need someone to boss around on this island," he grinned ear to ear.

Olivia was left flustered, feeling all the attention turn on her.

"Are you crazy?"

Fitz shrugged.

"Maybe, but I know that I get even crazier every minute that I'm not with you."

The entire crowd made an audible "awww" followed by an immediate gasp, watching Fitz get down onto one knee.

"Livvie, 23 years ago you asked me what my plan was, and I didn't know at the time, and I still don't know, but what I do know is that whatever it is, I want to be with you. I need to be with you. I have loved you for the last 23 years, and I know that I will love only you for the next 23 years, and 33 years, and 43 years and far, far, beyond that. You make me my best person, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Olivia's tears swelled in her eyes. The recurring dreams she had when she first came to the island where he would show up to sweep her off her feet again and run off to get married was unfolding right before. She never thought it would actually happen as the years went on but here they were. She let the tears roll down her face as she saw Fitz reach into a pocket and pull out a familiar jewelry box and opened it.

"Olivia Pope, will you marry me?" Fitz asked, revealing the infinity ring that Olivia saw all those years ago.

Olivia's body shuddered with joyous emotions, trying to keep herself in check, but she couldn't help the tears taking over her.

"Yes!" she cried, unable to move from the excitement and joy. Fitz got up and ran down the aisle toward her, kissing her deeply without a care in the world that they were in front of hundreds of people. Olivia's lips pulled out of his.

"You'll love only me for another 43 years, huh?" she playfully smirked.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry Livvie but I you'll eventually have to let me roam free. I don't know about you, but I plan on being a very slutty 96-year-old."

Olivia laughed hysterically at Fitz's remarks, when the priest interrupted her.

"Are we ready to proceed?" the Priest asked.

"Yes!" Fitz replied boldly.

"Dearly beloved-"

"Wait! No…"

Fitz turned his attention to Olivia, "the ring you have. I know what it might seem like, but I need you to believe me that I never gave it to Mel-"

"Fitz, I know!" Olivia cut him off, not wanting him to even utter _her_ name at their wedding, "I noticed when I first saw you two together on the news together."

Fitz let out a sigh of relief that he did not have to try and defend himself further.

"Are we ready now?" the priest asked.

"Yes!" Olivia chimed this time.

"Dearly beloved-"

"Wait! No…"

She turned her head back to Fitz.

"Wait Fitz, how are we going to do this? You have a family back in California and all your work is in the States?"

Fitz grabbed onto Olivia's shoulders to calm her racing thoughts.

"We'll figure it out, Livvie. I'll look at advocacy work around here; I was already looking into it when I arrived. We'll figure it out together," he smiled brightly.

"Okay."

"Okay, are we actually ready now?" the priest asked, annoyed by the interruptions.

"Yes!" they both answered in unison. Zeke and Raya stood back from the altar, giving Olivia and Fitz the space they needed.

"Well, alright then. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God to join this man, and this woman in holy matrimony. We are all here today to witness the joining in wedded bliss of…"

"…Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III," Fitz spoke, realizing that the priest and many of the people at this wedding probably had not known who he was.

"and…"

"Olivia Pope," Olivia filled in the gaps for the priest to continue.

"This joyous day celebrates the commitment and love with which Fitzgerald and Olivia start their lives together. Through God, you are joined together in the most holy of bonds. Who gives this woman in holy matrimony to this man?"

"I do," Raya spoke up on behalf of her mother, smiling at her.

"Do you, Olivia Pope take Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III to be your lawfully wedded husband, and live together forever in the estate of holy matrimony? Do you love, comfort, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse for as long as you both shall live?

"I do."

"Do you, Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III take Olivia Pope to be your lawfully wedded wife and live together forever in the estate of holy matrimony? Do you love, comfort, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, for better or for worse for as long as you both shall live?

"I so do," Fitz answered practically gleaming, reaching up to cup Olivia's face as he waited for the final magic words that he had been waiting 23 years to hear.

"Then with the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Fitz and Olivia jumped at the chance to connect, kissing ever so passionately as a crowd around them erupted with applause. Only after a complete minute kissing each other did they finally pause to take a breath.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

The reception, initially intended for Raya and Zeke, was held immediately after. Olivia walked hand-in-hand with Fitz around the party, introducing him to all of her local friends she had made throughout the years. Olivia looked around the party and saw Abby and Stephen talking together while Raya and Zeke were dancing together with Jake and Quinn not too far by. She couldn't believe how this week had turned out.

"What?" he asked her, noticing a look on her face.

"Nothing. It's just last week I thought I was never going to see you again, and now we're married…" Olivia mused, fiddling with the ring around her finger. "I always wondered when I first noticed, but how come you never gave this ring to anyone else?"

Fitz took a deep breath.

"I know that I lied to you a little bit about that ring…but the origins of it were true. It really was my great grandmother's, and it really was from Paris, and I was suppose to give it to the love of my life…so I saved it."

Olivia smiled widely at him, reaching up and cupping his face in her hands. She leaned in to kiss him, but was interrupted.

"Hey look! No way!" Raya yelled out for everyone and pointed up to the night sky. Olivia dropped her hands and looked up too, witnessing hundreds of lights streak across the sky.

"Well, would you look at that? There was supposed to be a meteor shower after all!" Stephen said in wonder.

Olivia and Fitz laughed looking up at the rain of light right above them, reminiscent of their fist date.

"It's beautiful," Olivia said, staring at the sky in awe.

"Sure is."

And they kissed beneath a thousand shooting stars.


End file.
